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P DATE  J 


$4 


95  April  1990 


EXPLORING  THE  POWER 


OF 


SINCLAIR  COMPUTERS 


THE  CAMBRIDGE  Z88 
Portable  Power 


M  SINCLAIR  TM  TS-2068 
Versatile  Desk  Topper 


H3E  SINCLAIR  QL 
32  Bit  Power  House 


In  this  issue.  .  . 

UPDATE    CONTINUES    WITH    NEW  PUBLISHER 

QL  OPERATING  MS-DOS         TS-2068  EXTRA  MEMORY       USING  RAM  DISK  with  TS-2068 

PSION'S  THREE  NEW  MOBIL  CCMHMS    nek  zss  poblicsticn      ql-s  text  -s? 
PLUS-  fflff  ISSUE  DISKS  PGR  BOIH  THE  SINCLAIR  QL  AND  THE  TS-2068 

UPDATE  MAGAZINE 

1317  Stratford  Ave. 
Panama  City,  FL  32404 
904  871  3556 


News  and  New  Products 


If     you     1  ike     your  Sinclair 


Don 


chase    your  tail 


O 


Turn  it  a  ±  ■  o  lj  n  c±  ^WSmMm^  and  g-o  t  your  tail 
over    -to    the    Mi  lwaukee    Sinclair  Expo 


fisiisiiiiiratpitii 


June  2nd  5: 3rd 
Banquet  Friday  Night  June  1st 

-  SEIiMS,  SOFTUBRE,  HHIIIE,  DDK  ROB,  SUP  SHOP  - 

Loc«Uon  -  li|  Hi  I| "  h)  18  *  194  H««k«h«  HI 

Satwrday  June  2, 1998  uiil  be  the  SNUG  meeting 
Ticket! :  in  adv. Ait  door 


One  Buy  -  4.86  5. 


Two  dfljj-  7. 
Banquet  -16.88 


8.88 

ww 


Mies:  38"  x  6'  25.88  each 


If  flying  in  call  us,  414  353  4522. 
with  flight  info,  for  transportation. 
Hail  your  reservations  to: 

Expo  Reservations,  P.O.  Box  181, Butler  Wl  53225 


2, 


UPDATE  CHANGES  PUBLISHER 

by  Bill  Jones 

This  announces  that  Frank  Davis,  513  East  Main  Street,  Peru,  IN  46970  will 
be  taking  over  as  publisher  of  Update  Magazine  with  the  October  1990  issue.  We 
hope  that  the  subscribers  will  not  notice  any  change  in  quality  or  depth  of 
coverage  except  for  the  better.  I  am  delighted  that  Update  will  be  a  survivor 
publication  and  will  be  published  under  such  competent  leadership  as  Frank  Davis 
can  provide.  I  will  help  Frank  as  much  as  he  requests  to  keep  Update  an 
excellent  publication. 

Frank  Davis  is  a  long  time  user  of  both  the  TS-2068  and  Sinclair  QL.  He  has 
recently  been  involved  as  the  SNUG  Librarian  for  public  domain  software.  Frank 
was  a  key  person  in  organization  of  the  1988  Computer  Fest  at  Indianapolis  and 
has  been  the  editor  of  a  TSUG  newsletter.  In  addition  Frank  is  in  close 
coordination  with  other  SNUG  officials  in  Indiana  who  will  be  at  hand  to  assist 
in  keeping  Update  Magazine  a  good  publication. 

For  those  of  you  who  have  articles  to  publish  please  keep  on  sending  them 
in.  I  will  turn  over  all  un-published  articles  to  Frank  when  the  July  issue  is 
finished.  I  am  looking  forward  to  having  more  time  to  spend  on  programming  and 
my  sailing  hobby.  Also  I  promised  to  take  the  Wife  on  a  cruise  in  the  Virgin 
Isles. 

The  hints  given  in  Update  recently  that  I  was  about  to  quit  publishing 
brought  on  many  letters  urging  me  on.  That  was  enough  to  make  me  reach  out  to 
find  someone  to  carry  on  the  magazine.  But  how  can  one  sell  ice  to  Eskimoes, 
Confederate  currency,  an  old  treasure  map,  a  sunken  boat,  or  a  non-profit 
magazine?  But  the  effort  paid  off.  Now  we  have  another  dedicated  publisher  to 
keep  Update  going,  the  first  Sinclair  Timex  magazine  to  survive  the  quits.  I 
urge  all  to  give  Frank  Davis  your  support.  Re-subscribe  and  try  to  bring  in 
another  Sinclair  Timex  user  as  a  subscriber.  There  are  many  inactive  S-T  "owners 
who  are  not  users".  We  need  to  find  these  folks  and  encouraged  them  to  subscribe 
to  Update  and  re-join  this  enthusiastic  group.  The  subscribers  really  are  an 
enthusiastic  group  having  a  convival  spirit  of  friendship  with  a  cannon  interest. 

Update  is  your  magazine.  There  will  be  some  complexion  changes,,  likely  for 
the  better.  Each  publisher  injects  his  own  personality  into  the  pages.  Since 
all  Sinclar  -  Timex  supporters  are  eccentric  characters  beyond  help  from  couch 
analyists,  Frank  Davis  will  likely  bring  in  a  new  set  of  egocentrics  and 
incomprehensibles  for  you  to  enjoy.  I  quit  with  the  hope  that  you  are  still 
trying  to  figure  out  whether  or  not  I  have  any  literary  talents  or  am  truly  the 
curmudgeon  that  one  of  our  subscribers  suggested.  My  intent  all  along  was  to 
confuse  while  injecting  humor  and  a  bit  of  satire  to  twit  the  perfectionists  who 
look  for  nits  in  the  forest  of  verbs,  pornouns,  and  infinitudes,  and  find  many 
because  Update  is  too  poor  to  hire  a  proof  reader.    Its  the  beef  that  counts. 

I  also  would  like  to  remind  everyone  that  Update  Magazine  is  not  a  profit 
venture.  The  best  that  a  publisher  can  hope  to  do  is  to  avoid  losing  money.  The 
best  that  I  could  do  during  the  three  years  was  to  put  aside  enough  funds  to  pay 
for  the  upkeep  and  entertainment  on  board  the  200*  yacht  "White  Star"  as  we  plyed 
the  seas  between  issues.  (Now  I'll  tell  you.  The  "White  Star"  is  a  45 1  sailing 
yawl,  built  in  1936  at  Bristol,  Conn.  It  was  our  family  vessel  for  10  years  and 
was  given  to  a  boy's  club  in  1968  when  I  was  sent  to  serve  my  Country  in  Viet 
Nam.  Sailing  gave  way  to  publishing  three  years  ago  and  will  be  resumed  with 
salty  zest . ) 

A  good  gesture  of  support  to  your  new  publisher  would  be  to  send  him  your 
subscription  renewal  for  1991,  which  becomes  due  after  the  July  issue  is 
received.      I  wish  Frank  Davis  and  the  subscribers  to  Update  good  tidings.  -BJ- 


3 


UPDATE  Gets  a  New  Editor  After  July  ; 

In  the  January  issue  of  UPDATE ,  it  was  announced  that  if  no 
one  could  be  found  to  carry  on  the  publishing  and  editing  of 
UPDATE  magazine  that  it  would  be  discontinued  with  the  July 
issue  (the  last  issue  on  the  subscription  year).  Bill  Jones  was 
getting  a  bit  burned  out  and  wanted  to  spend  more  time  at  his 
other  hobby,  boating.  It  has  been  an  excellent  magazine  and  has 
a  fairly  steady  subscriber  base.  The  magazine  had  been  twice 
offered  to  SNUG,  but  was  not  accepted  at  that  time.  At  this  time 
SNUG  plans  to  continue  with  its  own  newsletter,  of  which  the 
second  issue  is  probably  already  sent  out. 

Veil  the  gauntlet  was  thrown  down  and  it  has  been  picked  up, 
by  Carol  and  Frank  Davis  of  Peru,  Indiana.  After  the  July  issue 
is  sent  out  from  Panama  City,  Florida,  the  magazine  will  be 
moved  to  Peru,  Indiana.  This  means  that  all  renewals  of 
subscriptions  will  go  to  UPDATE  Computer  Systems,  P.O.  Box  1095, 
Peru,  IN  46970.  They  will  also,  after  the  July  issue  is  mailed, 
be  handling  all  orders  for  program  disks  from  the  magazine.  In 
the  past  this  magazine  has  had  near  100%  renewal,  and  it  is 
hoped  this  will  be  continued.  Most  of  the  magazine  will  remain 
pretty  much  the  same,  other  than  adding  a  column  on  Sinclair 
desktop  publishing.  We  hope  to  retain  all  of  the  same  writers 
and  perhaps  add  a  few.  At  this  time  all  prices  and  policies 
remain  the  same.  The  price  for  a  subscription  is  SIS. 00  U.S. 
The  only  change  being  looked  at  is  that  ,  with  a  postage  rate 
hike  likely  in  February  1991,  we  may  have  to  increase  postage 
for  those  subscribing  overseas  and  in  Canada  by  a  dollar  or  two. 
It  costs  more  to  mail  out  of  the  country.  All  correspondence  or 
questions  on  this  should  be  directed  to  Frank  Davis  at  P.O.  Box 
1095,  Peru,  IN  46970.  Assisting  the  Davis  family  with  this 
venture  is  their  longtime  friend,  Eliad  P.  Vannum,  who  will  be 
active  in  the  editorial  department.  He  will  undoubtedly  also  get 
stuck  with  a  lot  of  collating  and  stapling  of  the  magazine. 

For  those  who  do  not  know  Frank  Davis  and  his  wife  Carol, 
allow  me  to  say  a  few  words.  Remember  the  first  Midwest 
Timex-Sinclair  Computer  Fest  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio?  He  was  the  guy 
who  got  it  all  started  and  together  with  Jack  Roberts  and  a 
committee  of  11  more,  put  on  that  show.  The  next  year  he  went  on 
to  produce  the  2nd  Midwest  Timex-Sinclair  Computer  Fest  in 
Indianapolis,  Indiana.  To  this  date,  that  was  the  largest  and 
best  attended  Sinclair  show  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Those 
who  attended  the  show  the  next  year  at  Cleveland  will  have 
remembered  he  was  one  of  the  moderators  for  the  large  meeting 
for  all  attendees  and  that  he  presented  a  seminar  on  data 
exchange  between  the  TS1000,  TS2068  and  the  QL.  For  the  last 
four  years  he  has  been  the  Editor  of  the  ISTUG  Newsletter, 
except  for  a  few  months  that  Mike  Felerski  had  the  helm.  He  was 
one  of  the  original  founders  of  the  Indiana  Sinclair-Timex  Users 
Group,  in  which  he  is  still  very  active.  Presently,  he  is  the 
Head  Librarian  for  SNUG.  In  each  and  all  of  these  endeavors,  he 
has  had  the  support  of  his  wife,  Carol,  serving  on  all 
committees,    proofreading,   typing  ,  etc. 

Ve  will  look  forward  to  having  the  full  support  of  all 
subscribers,  writers,  programmers  and  Sinclair  vendors.  Thanks 
to  Bill  Jones  for  giving  us  another  chance  to  serve  the  Timex 
and  Sinclair  users  of  North  America. 


4 


PSION  DEVELOPS  1SREE  NEW  OCMPUTERS 

A  new  generation  of  MOBIL  full  capability 
Computers ! 

{To  prvowwuncjL  PSION,  dsuop  ike.  "P"  and 
4ay,  'M.-aan'  ). 

PSION  has  been  a  leader  in  Software 
development  since  the  first  Personal  computers 
were  introduced  by  Sinclair.  Some  of  PSION'S 
classic  softwares  are:  View  Calc  and  View  File 
for  the  TS-1000,  TS-2068  and  Spectrum,  Quill, 
Abacus,  Archive,  and  Easel,  for  the  Sinclair 
QL.  PSION  is  an  American  Company  based  in 
Water  town,  Connecticut,  and  they  are  producing 
a  new  line  of  computers. 

First  came  a  PSION  "Minature",  a 
calculator  size  computer  having  full  computing 
capability  and  the  ability  to  transport  files 
to  and  from  IBM  compatables. 

M  A  M  SERIES  OF  W  (MW 

Now  PSION  comes  in  with  a  new  line  of 
"MOBIL"  Computers  that  have  many  new  and 
attractive  innovations.  PSION  coined  the  name 
"MOBIL  COMPUTER"  to  better  discribe  the  size 
and  portability  of  this  new  group  of 
computers.  The  terms  "Portable"  and 
"Personal"  -  had  become  meaningless  applying  to 
a  wide  range  of  computer  sizes.  Three  new 
computers  are  designed  to  have  FULL  DESK  TOP 
CAPABILITY. 

PSION'S  "Mobil"  computers  are  the  size  of 
a  loose  leaf  note  book,  measuring  two  inches 
thick  and  weighs  4  1/2  pounds.  The  three 
models  have  clam  shell  design  to  provide  a 
full  size  screen  that  folds  up  to  provide  high 
resolution  viewing  with  built-in  graphics 
interface. 

The  three  models  of  PSION  Mobils  are 
designated:  MC-200,  MC-400,  and  MC-600.  The 
first  two  are  designed  with  PSION'S  own 
Operating  System.  The  MC-600  is  designed  to 
use  MS-DOS  and  all  of  the  software  used  by  the 
IBM  compatable  market. 

Common  Design  Features 

All  three  of  the  PSION  Mobils  employ  the 
newest  technology  of  "Flash  Memory  SoHd  State 
Disk"  (SSD).  These  SSD's  are  match  book  size 
Flash  Memory  cells  that  act  in  the  same  manner 
as  disk  drives,  but  have  no  moving  parts. 
Each  of  the  PSION  Mobils  have  four  SSD's  built 
in. 

The  PSION  Operating  System  is  ROM  BASED, 
meaning  that  no  outside  DOS  utilities  are 
required  for  operation. 

ALL  RAM  MEMORY  is  held  Non-Volatile  by 
replacable  AA  batteries  that  last  for  up  to  75 
computer    operating  hours.    In  terms  of  normal 


usage  this  translates  into  months  of 
operation. 

THE  MC-200  -  MC-400  Mobil  Computers 

These  computers  use  the  PSION  Operating 
System  and  have  an  ensemble  of  BUILT-IN 
Softwares  including,  Word  Processing,  Personal 
and  Business  Data  Base  Management,  Personal 
Diary,  Full  Function  Calculator,  and  Terminal 
Software  for  Tel ecommuni cation. 

The  MC-200  and  MC-400  have  SPEECH 
PROCESSING.  A  built-in  Microphone  is  used  to 
input  speech  which  is  stored  in  memory. 
Speech  processing  includes  its  editing. 
Entrys  to  the  built  in  software  can  be  made  by 
voice.    Play  back  is  also  provided. 

The  MC-200  and  MC-400  have  a  built-in 
"Touch  Pad",  a  Mouse  atop  the  keyboard.  The 
Touch  Pad  is  integrated  with  the  built-in 
softwares  to  provide  menu  item  high  lighting 
for  selections. 

The  MC-200  and  MC-400  use  the  PSION  "FAST 
LINK"  to  transport  files  to  and  from  either 
IBM  or  Apple  computers.  Fast  Link  will  be 
discussed  more  as  the  MC-600  Mobile  is 
described. 

THE  MC-600  MS-DOS  MOBIL  COMPUTER 

The  MC-600  is  designed  for  full 
comparability  with  the  widely  used  IBM 
compatable  systems.  The  MS-DOS  3.2  DOS  is 
built-in  to  the  MC-600  ROM.  PSION  is 
currently  adapting  its  own  Library  of  software 
into  the  SSD  format.  Transportability  of 
MS-DOS  disk  files  and  programs  is  provided  by 
a  built-in  PSION  Communications  Link.  The 
built-in  software  links  any  MS-DOS  computer 
via  PSION's  own  "Fast  Link",  a  serial 
interface  that  transfers  data  at  a  rate  of  1.5 
megabytes  per  second.  Fast  Link  works  with 
both  IBM  and  Apple  Computers. 

Remember,  PSION  has  been  a  full  capability 
Software  Enterprise  since  the  beginning  of  the 
Microprocessor  Computer  industry.  Their  vast 
experience  and  library  of  software  provide  a 
combination  that  is  unique  in  the  Computer 
Design  industry.  Most  Computer  industries 
build  their  computers  and  depend  upon  outside 
software  support  of  their  systems.  That  PSION 
is  converting  their  library  of  software  for 
this  new  line  of  Mobils  promises  un-excelled 
software  support  of  these  computers  for  years 
to  come . 

While  the  PSION  MC-600  uses  MS-DOS  which 
has  wide  software  support,  most  new  computers 
that  have  new  Operating  systems  suffer  from 
lack  of  software  support.  PSION's  in-house 
software  capability  promises  full  software 
support  of  the  MC-200  and  MC-400  from  their 
beginning.    (See  EMSOFT  Ad  for  specs.)  -BJ_ 


t  5' 


To  a  hundred  who  wrote:  The.  Jamiasu/  iS6ue  o4  Update,  uas  mailed  on.  Mustek.  4.  Not 
anything  to  bo,  jyvoud  o4  4oa  aujvl.  Excuse,:  My  apple,  cant  began  to  titt  just  a4teA. 
Chxistmas,  4<Uut  uflth.  the.  need  Joa.  Aemoval  04  a.  colon  pollup,  then  an  angioplasty 
operation  to  restate,  a.  clogged  OAteny,  and  then  a.  kidney  pAoceduAe.  to  blast  away  a. 
boulden.  All  this  took  32  day*  in  ye  ole.  hospital.  I  began  to  think  that  I  'd  have  to 
pat  in  a  change  04  addAest,  cand  to  the  postal  MAi/ijce.  In  the  meantime  about  100 
letters  uenjL  A&cebied  asking  "Wheats  my  magazine?"  [Whenes  the  be&4?).  A  dozen  on  so 
had  $1S  checks  inside.,  the  unite*  thinking  that  penhap*  he  had  4ongotten  to  Aeneu. 
These  checks  uteAe.  AetuAned  as  all  uptiteAS  ukao.  cuAAent  subscAJJbens.  I'm  back  in  the 
pink  again  now,  *o  dont  tend  JIoukas.  Bat  the  biZis  one.  beginning  to  oaaJjjq,  which  may 
cause  uKvtse  pain  than  did  the  kidney  Atone.  I  thank  evenyone.  ion  the  pleasantnies^ 
inclosed  in  the  lettens.    (No  one  -tent  onions. ) 


HAROLD  A.ROMER 
P.O.BOX  32 
JOHNSON  CITY.TENN. 

37605-0032 

I  have  for  sale  the  following  items: 

-  ZX80        -with  power  supply/manual 

-  TS1000    -with  power  supply/manual 

-  ZX81        -with  power  supply/manual 

-  ZX81  With  klik  keyboard-w/ps  fc  manual 

-  16K  memory<1016) 

-  32K  memory  (Memotech) 

-  64K  Memory  (Memotech) 

-  Hunter  board  W/4  chips 

-  Eprom  pgmr(MAV)  for  ZX81/TS1000  2/2732 

-  40  col  ptr 

-  32  col  ptr  (2040) 

-  Mannesmann  Tally  Spirit  80  Ptr. 

-  Memotech  keybd/8 1-1000 

-  demo  hardware/ 1000 

-  Carry  case/81/1000 

-  0S64  Cart-64col 

-  Modem  for  81/1000/2068 

-  AERC0  ptr  cable  W/Tape 

-  Memotech  ptr  cable  81/1000 

IT'S  HERE!! 
QL  TRIVIA-GLUE 

HERE  IS  GREAT  NEW  COMBINATION  GAME! 

IN  ONE  GREAT  PACKAGE! I 

13  ROOKS  -  13  WEAPONS  -  13  SUSPECTS 
THAT'S  OVER  2199  POSSIBLE  OUTCOMES! 
AND  NOW  -  OVER  75f  TRIVIA  QUESTIONS! 
QUESTIONS  COVER  EVERY  CONCEIVABLE  SUBJECT! 

— 

Also  included,  at  no  extra  cost,  your  choice  of 
FOOTBALL  FORECASTER  or  LIFE  EXPECTANCY  FORECASTER 
(Specify  which  you  would  like  when  you  order.) 

WE  THINK  YOU'LL  LIKE  THIS  ONE! 
OUR  PRICE?  ONLY  *19-95  ♦fZph 

AVAILABLE  EXCLUSIVELY  FROM: 
RMG  ENTERPRISES 


$25.00  ea 
45.00  ea 
35.00 
40.00 
15.00  ea 
30.00 
40.00 
35.00 
25.00 
40.00 
40.00 
150.00 
55.00 
15.00 
10.00 
15.00 
75.00 
30.00 
45.00 


We  carry  ALL  hardware  and  software  ftnes  for  the  Sinclair  QL. 
We  also  carry  the  Z88. 

WRITE  FOR  FREE  CATALOG 

Sharp's,  Inc. 

Rt.  10.  Box  459 
MechanksvlIJe,  VA  23111 
(804)  746-1664  or  730-9697 


Compare  the  PSION  MOBIL  COMPUTER 
to  any  other  portable  computer 
now  in  production. 

Dollar  for  Dollar,   feature  for 
feature,  it  can't  be  beat. 


Model 


MC-200  MC-400  MC-600 


CPU 

****  80C86  16  bit  CMOS  **** 

Speed  (Mhz) 

7.68  7.68 

7.68 

BIOS  mfg 

Phoenix  Phoenix  Phoenix 

RAM  Standard 

128K  256K 

768K 

RAM  Maximum 

'  512K  512K 

768K 

Screen  diag 

10M  10" 

10" 

type  (LCD) 

SupTwist  Retardation  Film 

protocol 

CGA  DCGA 

DCGA 

resolution 

640x200   640x400  640x400 

col  x  line 

85  x  14   85  x  14 

??? 

No.   of  Keys 

69  69 

79 

Detach  keybd 

no  no 

no 

Slots  Stand 

0  0 

0 

Prop 

2  2 

2 

Battery  type 

8xAA  Alk/Opt  Rech  NiCad  Pax 

life 

75  hr      60  hr 

40  hr 

replace 

yes        yes  ' 

yes 

Ports  Ser/Par 

1/1  1/1 

1/1 

Video  Port 

no  no 

yes 

ROM  size 

256K  256K 

256K 

Software 

in  ROM 

GUI  GUI 

MS-DOS  3.2 

Touch  pad 

yes  yes 

no 

Floppy  Stand 

no  no 

no 

Floppy  Ext. 

no  no 

1.44Mb  3.5" 

Hard  Disk 

no  no 

no 

RAM  Disk 

OK  OR 

1  Mb  intern 

Maximum 

2  Mb       2  Mb 

8  Mb 

Slots 

4  4 

4 

Fast  serial 

transfer 

*****  External  Option  ***** 

Modem 

*****  External  Option  ***** 

Microphone 

yes  yes 

no 

Speaker 

yes  yes 

yes 

Programing 

language 

OPL  OPL 

n/a 

Dimension 

***  12.4"  x  8.9" 

x  1.9"  *** 

Weight  (lbs) 

4.3  4.3 

4.3 

Warranty 

********  12  months  ******** 

Price 

$1199  $1699 

$2999 

Call  for  current  quote  from 

EMSoft 
Box  8763,  Boston,  MA  02114 
(617)  889-0830 


v 


A  New  Z88  publication  has  surfaced.   Z88  Fax  News  is  propagated  by  Fax 

line  or  mailed  to  subscribers  who  do  not  have  FAX.  One  of  the  four  pages 
of  the  issue  received  is  duplicated  below.  Update  Magazine  presents  this 
as  NEWS  ONLY  and  does  not  necessarily  endorse  the  Z88  or  Z88  FAX  NEWS. 


Z88  Fax  News 


February  1990 


Publisher  et  al  Curtis  Claar 

Facsimile  Promo  Productions 

2342  Glendale  Ave.  •  Casper,  Wyo.  82601 
Fax  or  voice  (307)  766-7026 


Page  Three 


Cambridge  N,  America 

Is  cash  a 
problem? 

So  is  Cambridge  North 
America  broke  or  aren't  they? 

One  CNA  employee  was 
quoted  as  saying,  "We  are  very 
alive."  Others  agree. 

But  reports  still  keep  com- 
ing in  of  financial  dire  straits. 
Some  say  CNA  owes  Cam- 
bridge UK  more  than  $1 
million.  Others  say  CNA  has 
bought  more  ads  than  it  can 
afford.  Some  people  say  CNA 
is  simply  bankrupt. 

As  is  often  true  in  research- 
ing the  records  of  a  company, 
researching  CNA  has  proved 
to  be  no  less  than  confusing. 

The  search  for  the  truth 
begins  with  CNA's  name. 

Marc  Giguere  of  CNA  said 
CNA  is  merely  an  assumed 
name  for  SSI  Computer  Sys- 
tems, Inc.,  a  Delaware  com- 
pany. 

SSI  is  not  to  be  confused 
with  SCI.  SCI  is  the  company 
that  makes  the  Z88  and  IBM 
and  Wang  keyboards,  he  said. 

Giguere  said  Diversified 
Foods  owned  New  England 
Sales,  Unicorn  Transportation, 
and  Cambridge  North  Amer- 
ica. 

He  said  that  4-5  months 
ago,  Diversified  Foods  was 
bought  by  the  Bank  of  Boston 
and  Cambridge  North  America 
subsequently  separated  from 
the  conglomerate.  He  said 
see  CNA 
page  three 


Z88s  not  just  for  little  guys 

It's  small,  but  'big'  people  still  use  it 


The  Z88  has  always  been  considered  by 
non-Z88ers  to  be  powerless  just  because 
of  its  size.  But  several  famous  people  have 
proven  size  isn't  everything.  Many  people 
that  are  in  the  public  eye  are  buying  laptop 
computers  and  the  choice  for  some  has 
been  the  Z88. 

Singer  Mel  Tonne,  the  jazz  duo  Tuck  & 
Patti,  comedian/magician  Teller  of  Perm 
and  Teller,  and  Anchorage  Daily  News 
Editor  Howard  Weaver  are  all  in  die  ranks 
of  those  who  own  Z88s. 

Mel  Tomie  uses  a  Z88  and  it's  said  that 
he  is  currently  writing  a  book  on  it  —  that 
is  using  it,  not  about  it.  Cambridge  North 
America  has  also  reportedly  approached 
him  about  a  making  a  televsion 
commercial  for  them.  It  is  still  unknown 
what  will  come  of  this. 

Tuck  of  Tuck  &  Patti,  an  internationally 
famous  jazz  duo,  is  said  to  be  a  real  power 
user.  Tuck  has  a  512K  RAM  card  in  the 
first  two  ports  and  several  EPROMs  to 


use  in  the  third.  Tuck  supposedly  uses  it 
all  the  time  and  takes  it  everywhere. 

Teller,  the  silent  half  of  Perm  and  Teller 
from  New  York  City,  surfaced  on  the  Z88 
BBS  in  Torrance,  Calif.  (BBS  phone 
number:  (213)  370-2754).  Teller  has  a 
Z88,  but  not  much  else  it  certain  —  after 
all,  he  is  the  quiet  one.  Penn  and  Teller, 
though,  apparendy  have  been  computer 
buffs  for  some  time.  At  one  time  they  —  or 
some  real  good  fans  —  .were  running  a 
Penn  and  Teller  Fan  Club  BBS. 

And  even  Howard  Weaver,  the  editor  of 
the  Anchorage  Daily  News,  uses  a  Z88. 
He  lias  written  a  few  interesting  programs 
for  it  and  is  considering  buying  Z88s  for 
his  reporters. 

Z88  Fax  News  will  keep  its  readers 
updated  on  famous  Z88  owners.  Watch  for 
more  articles  on  this  subject  in  the  next 
few  months. 

—  Curtis  Claar 


Welsh  company  sells  linkup  packages 


The  Music  Suite  Ltd.  in 
Wales  is  now  offering  two 
linkup  packages  for  the  Z88. 

They  have  been  offering  a 
hardware  and  software  linkup 
package  for  the  Atari  ST  for 
nearly  two  years  now  and  last 
year  they  came  out  with  one 


for  the  Amiga.  They  have 
plans  for  a  PC  version  as  well. 

The  Music  Suite  is  run  by 
Adrian  and  Helen  Wagner  and 
Francis  Monkman. 

"It  has  always  been  our 
intention  to  fully  support  our 
software,"  Adrian  said  in  a  fax 


letter  last  month.  Because  of 
this,  they  claim  to  offer  more 
than  simple  dump  programs. 

According  to  advertising, 
the  programs  also  route  Z88 
printer  output  to  printers  con- 
nected to  the  ST  or  the  Amiga. 

A  review  is  forthcoming. 


The  Z88  and  Telecommunications 

by  Dave  Bennett 

The  Z88  is  particularly  well 
suited  for  communicating  to  modems 
and  other  computers.  A  serial  port 
which  communicates  up  to  38,400 
baud,  a  VT52  terminal  program  and 
a  dedicated  file  transfer  utility 
are  included  with  the  stock  Z88. 
The  Z88  also  weighs  only  2  pounds 
and  is  easily  transported  right 
next  to  the  device  you  want  to 
communicate  with. 

My  Z88  is  mainly  used  to  talk 
to  a  pocket  modem  and  a  QL.  Z88 
files  are  archived  on  a  QL  disk.  I 
also  occasionally  communicate  with 
PCs  at  work  and  other  Z88s. 

I  have  designed  and  built 
cables  to  communicate  with  the  QL, 
PCs  and  other  Z88s.  I  built  the 
modem  cable  from  recommended 
pinouts  by  Cambridge. 

The  QL  cable  is  as  follows: 


xmodem  on  each  machine.  You  set  up 
one  machine  to  send  and  one  to 
receive.  Then  you  start  the 
transfer  on  both  machines  at  the 
same  time. 

You  can  transfer  ascii  files 
without  xmodem  by  various  means 
but  I  prefer  to  use  xmodem.  It 
provides  error  checking  in  the 
transfer  so  you  know  the  files  are 
transfered  OK.  You  can  also 
transfer  any  type  of  file  even 
machine  language. 

Z88  to  PC  and  Z88  to  Z88 
transfers  work  similarly.  On  the 
PC  I  prefer  to  use  PROCOMM.  It  is 
a  powerful  program  and  extremely 
easy  to  use.  I  would  like  to  see 
it  made  available  for  the  QL.  For 
Z88  to  Z88  transfers  I  am  using 
Z88C0M  on  both  machines. 

The  Z88  -  PC  and  Z88  -  Z88 
cables  are  as  follows: 


Z88  DB9 


PC  DB25 


QL  SER2 


2   3 

3  2 

i-4   4 

!-5  !  5 

6  !  6 

7  i  7 

!  -8  !  8 

!-9  9 


2 
3 
!-4 
!-5 

6 
7 
8 


3 
2 

4-! 
•5-! 

6-! 
7  ! 
8-! 

20 


I  have  tried  several  other 
designs  for  a  Z88  -  QL  cable  but 
have  not  found  a  cable  that  works 
as  well  for  transfer ing  files. 

What  I-  use  to  transfer  files 
are  Q_Link  for  the  QL  and  Z88C0M 
for  the  Z88.  Q_Link  is  a  shareware 
terminal  program  from  Harvey 
Taylor.  It  includes  CRC  and 
Checksum  xmodem  as  well  as  many 
other  features.  Z88C0M  is  a 
publicly  available  terminal 

program  from  Phil  Wheeler.  It 
extends  the  built-in  VT52  with 
checksum  xmodem  and  some  other 
features.  Phil  also  operates  the 
Z88  BBS  in  Los  Angeles. 

I  basically  connect  the 
computers  with  the  cable  and  run 
terminal     programs    which  utilize 


Z88  Z88 

2  3 

3  2 

,-4  4-! 
!-5  5-! 

6  6 

7   7 

8   9 

9   8 

There  also  is  a  variation  on 
Z88C0M  called  Link  by  Dave 
Armstrong  which  turns  the  Z88  into 


a  mini  BBS.  There  are  no  message 
facilities  but  you  can  transfer 
files.  All  typing  is  done  at  a 
remote  computer.  The  Z88  just  sits 


8 


there.  It  is  similar  to  PRQCOMMs 
Host  Mode.  It  works  well  connected 
to  a  computer  in  the  same  room. 
Modem  -facilities  were  removed  from 
this  variation  but  you  can  connect 
to  the  modem  and  then  switch  to 
Link  by  hand.  With  this  program 
you  can  transfer  files  with 
someone  across  town  at  a 
prearranged  time.  You  could  even 
transfer  QL  and  2068  files. 

There  also  is  another  program 
available  for  the  288  called  ZFU 
by  Richard  Haw.  This  is  a  utility 
which  takes  many  files  and 
archives  them  into  one  large  file. 
In  the  process  it  compresses  the 
files  so  the  resulting  large  file 
is  much  smaller.  You  can  archive 
all  the  files  in  all  the  ram 
devices  of  the  Z88  into  one  file 
and  just  backup  that  one  file  to 
your  QL  or  whatever. 

The  Z88  also  works  nicely  with 
any      Hayes      compatible  modem. 

Here  are  the  official  modem 
pinouts  from  Cambridge: 

Z88  Modem 


2  2 

3  3 

7  7 

5  20 

8  20 

9  20 

The  Z88  includes  a  built-in 
VT52  terminal  emulator.  It  works 
quite  nicely  although  you  have  to 
dial  manually  with  Hayes  AT 
commands.  It  is  also  easy  to  send 
and  receive  ascii  files  with  just 
the  built-in  software.  The 
built-in  VTS2  also  connects  quite 
nicely  to  a  VAX  mini  computer  once 
you  tell  the  VAX  you  have  a  VT52 
with  8  lines. 

But  I  like  Xmodem.  A  terminal 
program  was  developed  in  England 
which  provides  xmodem.  The 
disadvantages  of  this  program  are 
its  high  cost  and  it  also  adds  its 
own  protocol  in  place  of  the  VT52. 
The  built-in  VT52  works  ^much 
better. 

Fortunately  Z88C0M  came  out 
which  provides  xmodem  but  works  in 


concert  with  the  built-in  VT52. 
Z88C0M  is  also  much  cheaper.  In 
most  cases  it  is  available  for  the 
cost  of  a  download.  Z88C0M  can 
also  autodial  and  autologon  to 
five  systems.  It  has  a  message 
upload  feature  for  sending  text 
files.  All  in  all  it  is  a  great 
program. 

The  latest  I  heard  was  that 
Cambridge  just  came  out  with  a 
VT100  terminal  program.  I  have  not 
heard  too  much  about  this.  The 
VT100  can  display  graphics  from  a 
remote  IBM  or  VAX.  It  moves  the 
cursor  around  your  screen  on 
command  from  the  remote  system.  I 
am  not  too  sure  how  well  this  will 
work  on  the  Z88  with  its  8  line 
screen  but  it  sounds  interesting. 

The  Z88s  portability  and  sheer 
connectivity  to  anything  speaking 
RS232  make  it  a  great  little 
computer  for  telecommunications. 

HARK  m  USEKS:  (WHAT  A  NICE  GUY!!) 

Dear  Bill,  I  have  been  trying  to 
promote  the  Z88  for  about  two  years.  I 
have  about  350K  of  Z88  programs  and 
related  QL  programs  that  were  downloaded 
from  two  main  Z88  BBS:  703-968-9438, 
213-370-2754,  and  GEnie. 

I  can  put  the  files  on  a  QL  720  sector 
disk  or  a  IBM  360K  disk.  In  the  case  of 
the  IBM  disk  I  will  substitute  some  IBM 
programs  instead  of  QL  programs.  See 
below: 


Z88  Public  Dcmain  and  Shareware  Programs: 

(Approx  350K  of  files) 

Available  on  QL  DSDD  720  sector  disk  or 
IBM  360K  disk.  The  QL  disk  includes  Z88 
related  QL  programs.  The  IBM  disk 
includes  IBM  related  files. 

PRICE:  A  dollar  to  pay  for  mailing,  or 
two  dollars  to  mail  in  a  disk  mailer. 

David  Bennett 
329  R.  Walton  St. 
Lemoyne,  PA  17043 


9 


THE  SINCLAIR  QL 


(    BITCH.'    BITCH?    AND  DO  NOTHING  ) 

"My  BlndtauUt.  QL  ±A  wr-AeJtiaMtt.  that  I  cannot  get.  a,  ^imp&e.  one,  page,  tetter  done,  utithout 
the.  QL  CAxuAing.  The,  cstath  uMjatly  happen*  when  the.  AjepiLgeAatox.  a*  iannacz.  klcJu  on. "  This 
complaint  was  received  a  year  ago  from  a  QL  Subscriber.  Still,  almost  every  week  I  talk  to  a 
QL  user  who  is  still  having  such  problems  in  varying  degree.  THERE  IS  NO  EXCUSE  FOR  HAVING 
SUCH  PROBLEMS  ANY  MORE! !    Read  on— 


March  17,  1990 
Bill  Jones, 

The  Q/L  on  which  this  letter  is  being  composed  has  been 
modified  per  Dan  Elliott's  article.  (July  1989)  The  lock  up 
problems  associated  with  the  Q/L  power  supply  plaque  me  no 
more.  There  is  no  longer  a  need  to  save  text  every  few 
minutes.  The  only  lock  up  experienced  now  is  caused  by 
conflicts  between  the  software  and  the  inputter. 

The  Coleco  power  supply  is  enclosed  in  a  fabricated,  black 
case,  with  openings  for  air  flow  and  is  now  sitting  on  the 
floor  providing  cool  uninterrupted  power.  This  modification 
is  not  difficult,  it's  not  expensive,  and  is  highly 
recommended.  Tell  everyone  to  do  it  themselves  or  call  Dan, 
but  get  it  done! 

My  confidence  in  the  Q/L  is  now  such  that  I  am  in  the  process 
of  putting  together  a  disk  drive  system  and  saving  for  a 
Trump  Card  expansion.  The  microdrives  work  fine,  usually,  but 
I  would  prefer  a  faster,  more  reliable  system. 

Ha  ! !  The  furnace  just  came  on  and  someone  started  the 
microwave  and  I  am  still  input' in.  To  bring  this  to  a  close, 
I  thank  you  and  all  who  contribute  to  the  cause  of  keeping 
the  T/S  computers  working;  the  writers,  programmers,  and 
dealers. 


sincerly,  Elliott  Repairs  all  Computers 

KfiJ\  RR-1,  Box  117  Specializes  in  repair 

Donald  R .  Lnes  Cabool ,  MO  65689  of  QL  and  TS-2068 

1900  sunvale  Tel  417  469-4571  Power  mods  for  both 

olathe,  ks  66062  (weekends) 

,  (ny  Coleco  Vs  SfTs  (WeA  71*-  wpnfT&a*.) 

Ed  note:  Need  I  say  more?  But  I  will.  Some  QL  users  get  the  downs  because  they  are 
affected  by  the  dis-respect  from  the  Yuppies,  the  ridicule  from  the  $5000  IBM  users,  the 
syndrome  "I  only  paid  $100  for  it  so  it  must  not  be  very  good",  and  the  "Sinclair  abandoned 
us  syndrome".  ANYTHING  to  bolster  insecurity  and  lack  of  self  esteem.  But  others  are 
bragging  that  their  QL  does  10  times  as  much  as  the  IBM  AT.  I  guess  that  is  the  difference 
between  the  pessimist  and  the  optimist.  You  know  what  I  mean.  The  pessimist  believes  that 
the  sky  is  falling  upon  him,  while  the  optimist  believes  that  the  sky  is  rising  with  him  in 
it.  Me?  I  believe  that  when  one  has  a  problem  he  should  fix  it.  When  it  is  forecast  to 
rain  I  leave  my  hat  behind  as  I  go  fishing.  On  Sunday  I  believe  that  the  preacher  will  soon 
quit  talking.  I'm  always  sure  next  months  bills  will  be  less,  that  Ed  McMann  will  send  me 
that  million  that  he  promises,  and  the  Wife  wont  have  a  headache.  Don,  my  QL  is  working  fine 
too!    But  work  on  that  interface  conflict,  and  you'll  overcome.  -BJ_ 


10 


Runinatioos  Fran  The  QL  Editor 


WOOD  AND  WIND  COMPUTING 


There  is  a  lot  of  interest  among  QL  users  about 
the  PC  world  and  MSDOS  operating  system.  Its 
makes  sense  because  the  influence  of  PCs  on 
personal  computing  is  tremendous.  Digital 
Precisions  emulator,  PC-CONQUEROR,  makes  it 
possible  for  any  QL  user  with  disk  drives  and 
memory  expansion  to  turn  their  QL  into  a  quasi 
PC.  This  is  certainly  a  novel  capability  and 
has  useful  applications  but  be  aware  that  the  QL 
makes  for  a  SLOW  PC,  The  QL  is  a  fine  computer. 
With  disk  drives,  memory  expansion,  or  TRUMPCARD 
it  can  still  hold  its  own  against  a  PC.  It  is 
slower  in  many  ways  but  has  capabilities  that 
most  PCs  do  not.  If  you  use  your  QL  effectively 
you  can  still  work  as  fast  or  faster  on  it  than 
most  PC  users  can  on  their  computers.  It  can 
serve  you  well  for  years  to  come.  Learning 
to  use  your  QL  effectively  probably  makes 
more  sense  than  playing  around  with  MSDOS  on 
it.  The  purpose  of  UPDATE  Magazine  is  to 
help  you  reach  that  maximum  potential  with  your 
QL. 

That  said,  I  need  to  explain  why  we  are 
giving  so  much  coverage  to  MSDOS  in  this  issue. 
It's  definitely  not  because  we  feel  that  the  QL 
is  dead  and  we  all  need  to  swtich  to  MSDOS. 
It's  because  we  want  to  provide  information  to 
our  readers.  There  are  many  QL  users  who  are 
curious  about  MSDOS  and  many  others  who  work  in 
both  the  QL  and  PC  worlds.  UPDATE  needs  to 
check  out  QL  Software  related  to  PCs  such  as  : 
DISCOVER  (allows  QL  PC  disk  compatility,  $40), 
PC  CONQUEROR  (PC  emulator  and  allows  QL  PC  disk 
compatibility,  $150??).  PC  software  related  to 
the  QL  include  :  PSION 's  PC-POUR  (PC  versions 
of    QUILL,  ABACUS,  EASEL,    and  ARCHIVE, $99) . 

This  issue  is  packed.  Part  III  of  David  McCall's 
WINDOW  DEFINING  series  focuses  on  SUPERBASIC 
procedures . 

Peter  Hale  starts  a  2  part  series  on  TEXT87. 
Al  feng  clears  the  air  about  ROMs  on  the  QL. 

Bob  Hartung  shows  how  to  set  up  an  ARCHIVE 
address  database. 

Bill  Jones  shows  us  some  QUILL  printer 
driver  tricks . 

We  have  lots  of  coverage  of  PC  CONQUEOR  and 
MSDOS  with  articles  by  both  Bob  Hartung  and  Al 
Feng. 

There  are  a  couple  of  articles  about  the 
TS-2068  that  the  QL  users  may  benefit  from.  One 
is  about  Dot  Matrix  printer  drivers.  The  other 
is  a  Business  Software  for  the  TS-2068,  done  in 
Basic.  This  excellent  program  offers  a 
challange  to  the  QL  users  to  clone  it  in  Super 
Basic.  The  benefits  will  be  worth  the  effort 
and  the  conversion  should  be  good  practice. 

Finally,  I  explore  the  QL-PC  connection 
through  ARCHIVE  by  showing  how  I  converted  one 
of  my  ARCHIVE  programs  to  work  on  a  PC.  And 
there  is  more. 

Next  issue  David  McCall  will  tie  up  his  Window 
Defining  series  and  we  will  have  an  Issue  Disk 
of  it.  Peter  Hale  will  continue  his  in  depth 
description  of  TEXT87.  More  of  Timothy 
Stoddard's  TRUMP  CARD  Manual. 

Don't  forget  about  the  1990  Sinclair  Computer 
Exposition  in  Milwaukee  hosted  by  SMUG  on  the 
weekend  on  June  2&3.  See  You  there. 


21 


Bill  Cable  :  RR  3  Box  92  :  Cornish,  NH  03745 

CABLE  COLUMN 

QL  -  ARCHIVE  -  PC 

Databases  are  specialized  programs  for  efficient 
handling  of  both  text  and  numeric  information  on  a 
computer.  Anyone  trying  to  put  their  computer  to 
good  use  should  be  using  a  database  in  one  form  or 
another.  As  many  of  you  know  I  am  a  great  fan  of  the 
ARCHIVE  database  and  programming  language.  I  write 
commercial  software  with  it.  For  handling 
information  on  a  QL  it  has  no  peer  for  its 
capabilities.  This  is  not  to  say  that  there  is  not  a 
price  to  pay  for  using  ARCHIVE.  Either  you  have  to 
learn  how  to  use  its  programming  language  or  you 
have  to  buy  ARCHIVE  programs.  Other  alternatives 
include  buying  FLASHBACK  or  write  or  buy  database 
type  programs  written  in  SUPERBASIC  or  other 
languages. 

In  earlier  issues  of  UPDATE  I  have  tried  to  explain 
the  basics  of  using  ARCHIVE.  Now  that  I  see  there  is 
so  much  interest  in  MSDOS  by  QL  users  I  want  to  push 
ARCHIVE  from  another  angle.  If  you  want  to  be  able 
to  do  something  useful  on  MSDOS  computers  then  learn 
the  ARCHIVE  language  on  your  QL.  I  have  been  aware 
that  there  is  PC  version  of  ARCHIVE.  But  until 
recently  I  have  had  very  little  experience  on  MSDOS 
machines  (PCs).  After  tackling  my  first  serious 
conversion  attempt  (making  DBEasy  work  on  a  PC)  I 
would  say  I  am  already  close  to  being  an  expert  with 
PC-ARCHIVE  because  the  PC  and  QL  versions  are  so 
similar.  Almost  all  of  the  ARCHIVE  I  have  learned  on 
the  QL  can  be  transfered  directly  to  the  PC.  DBEasy, 
my  ARCHIVE  database  manager,  is  now  available  in 
both  QL  and  PC  versions  (see  my  ad) .  The  importance 
of  this  QL-PC  connection  should  not  be  minimized. 
Transporting  software  and  experience  from  one 
computer  to  another  is  generally  a  very  difficult 
process.  If  you  take  an  elaborate  SUPERBASIC  program 
and  try  to  convert  it  to  run  on  a  t  PC  using  one  of 
the  PC  BASIC  languages,  almost  certainly  you  would 
have  to  make  major  changes  to  the  code  and  a  lot  of 
learning  to  do  as  well.  So  learn  the  ARCHIVE 
language  on  your  QL  and  you  can  apply  what  you  have 
learned  directly  to  a  PC.  You  can  transfer  your 
databases  and  programs  to  a  PC  as  well.  And  its  not 
like  ARCHIVE  is  an  inferior  language.  I  still 
maintain  that  it  is  one  of  the  nicest  languages 
around.  Its  a  nice  structured  procedure  oriented 
language  with  a  built  in  editor  and  good  error 
messages  and  handling.  Its  very  much  like  SUPERBASIC 
without  line  numbers  or  bugs.  And  I  have  talked  with 
people  who  are  experienced  with  PC- ARCHIVE  and  other 
PC  databases  and  they  feel  that  ARCHIVE  is  a 
superior  database  for  PCs.  Just  like  the  QL  was/ is 
ignored  by  the  masses,  PC-ARCHIVE  is  ignored  even 
though  it  is  a  fine  database.  And  compared  to  the 
price  of  DBASE  or  PC  database  programs  it  is  a 
bargain. 

This  Cable  Column  is  going  to  describe  how  I  went 
about  converting  my  DBEasy  program  to  the  PC.  This 
included  purchasing  a  PC  computer,  the  Amstrad 
PPC640  portable,  and  learning  a  little  bit  about 
using  MSDOS.  I  will  also  give  some  statistics 
comparing  DBEasy' s  performance  on  the  QL  and  on 
different  PCs.  We  already  have  ARCHIVE  for  our  QLs. 
For  the  PC  you  must  purchase  it  as  a  package  with 
QUILL,  ABACUS,  and  EASEL  called  PC-FOUR.  The  price 
is  about  $99.  It  can  be  purchased  from  me  (see  my 
ad)  or  EMSOFT  or  RMG  or  Sharps.  If  you  work  en  a  PC 
it  makes    sense  for  you  to   have  PC-FOUR  because  you 


use  the  same  programs  on  your  QL.  The  PC  versions 
also  have  extra  features.  It's  pure  folly  to 
purchase  PC-POUR  to  use  soley  with  PC-CONQUEOR.  The 
QL  makes  a  poor  PC. 

Choosing  a  PC 

Before  I  could  do  serious  PC  work  I  needed  a  PC 
computer.  DBEasy  swamps  PC-CONQUEROR  so  I  couldn't 
do  the  work  on  my  QL  with  the  emulator.  Even  if  it 
worked,  life  is  too  short  for  its  snails  pace.  The 
possible  choices  for  a  PC  are  limitless.  They  range 
from  an  XT  type  (8088  or  8086  processor)  or  an  AT 
type  (80286)  or  an  80386  machine  with  prices  from 
$500  to  $2000.  My  final  choice  was  a  portable  by 
Amstrad,  the  PPC640.  It  is  an  XT  type  but  the  8086 
processor  has  a  16  bit  data  bus  so  it  is  almost  as 
fast  as  an  AT  of  similar  clock  speed  (8  MHz) .  It  is 
too  heavy  to  be  a  laptop  but  is  totally  portable  and 
takes  little  space  to  set  up.  It  will  run  from 
batteries  or  12  volt  DC  (as  in  a  car)  or  normal 
house  current.  I  have  my  own  home  power  system  and 
the  fact  that  it  uses  only  20  watts  of  power  and  I 
can  run  it  on  12  volt  DC  were  big  pluses  to  me.  I 
also  liked  it  having  a  full  size  AT  style 
keyboard.  It  has  two  720k  3  1/2  inch  drives.  It  has 
an  LCD  screen  (no  backlight)  but  will  also  plug  into 
my  Magnavox  RGB  monitor  with  CGA  display.  I  use  the 
same  monitor  with  my  QL.  The  PPC640  also  has  a  built 
in  1200  baud  modem  with  phone  connector  and  is 
provided  with  software  to  run  it.  It  has  2  serial 
ports  and  1  parallel  port.  I  bought  it  from 
UNDER-WARE  Electronics  (800-442-1408)  as  advertised 
in  Computer  Shopper  for  $700  plus  $25  shipping. 
Although  still  available,  it  is  no  longer  in 
production  and  was  originally  suppose  to  sell  for 
something  like  $1200.  There  are  also  versions  with 
one  disk  drive  and  no  modem  available  for  less.  It 
comes  with  DOS  3.2.  It  has  worked  flawlessly  for  me 
and  I  recommend  it.  The  keyboard  action  is  not  the 
best  but  works  fine.  The  drives  are  quiet.  The  LCD 
screen  needs  good  room  lighting  but  is  adequate.  I 
have  found  it  to  be  fast  compared  to  my  QL  mostly 
because  of  much  faster  screen  handling.  There  is 
suppose  to  be  a  20  Meg  portable  hard  drive  available 
for  $300  but  I  don't  have  it  yet.  It  is  certainly  an 
inexpensive  way  to  break  into  the  PC  market  place.  I 
have  a  comprehensive  payables/ receivables  package 
for  home  and  small  businesses  written  in  QL -ARCHIVE 
that  is  almost  ready  for  release.  By  converting  it 
to  PC-ARCHIVE,  I  have  a  package  to  sell  locally  to 
small  businesses.  Later  if  things  go  well  I  will 
consider  getting  a  more  versatile  386  machine.  Have 
I  abandoned  my  QL?  No  way!  I  consider  QDOS  a  more 
flexible  operating  system  than  MSDOS  and  I  like 
being  able  to  multitask.  I  don't  want  to  abandon 
SUPERBASIC  with  its  excellent  language  for  making 
quick  programs  wijbh  very  flexible  graphics.  Even  if 
slower  in  some  respects,  I  can  still  work  faster  on 
my  QL  because  of  its  excellent  features.  In  the 
future  I  will  work  on  both  the  QL  and  PC  machines. 
It  is  certainly  nice  to  have  the  4  PSION  programs 
available  on  both. 

The  DBEasy  Program 

DBEasy  is  a  front  end  database  manager  for  ARCHIVE. 
It  allows  you  to  use  most  of  ARCHIVE'S  features 
without  having  to  know  anything  about  its  language. 
It  allows  the  user  to  create  and  manage  all  sorts  of 
databases.  It  is  a  large  complex  program  (55k  on  the 
QL  and  56k  on  the  PC)  but  very  simple  to  use.  As 
with  any  friendly  software  most  of  the  development 
effort  went  into  making  clear  and  simple  menus  and 
displays.  - 


Transfering  DBEasy  to  a  PC 

Now  that  I  had  a  QL,  a  PC,  ARCHIVE  for  both  I  next 
needed  to  transfer  my  QL  files  to  the  PC.  There  are 
at  least  2  ways  available.  The  best  way  is  to  use  a 
QL  software  like  DISCOVER  or  PC-CONQUEROR  to  copy 
them  to  a  PC  formated  disk  on  the  QL  and  take  the 
disk  to  my  PC.  I  couldn't  do  that  because  my  QL  has 
5  1/4  drives  and  my  PC  has  3  1/2  drives.  I  have  3 
1/2  drives  on  order  for  my  QL  from  RMG  to  make  life 
easier.  So  I  had  to  use  the  serial  ports  on  my  QL 
and  PC  to  transfer  the  files.  I  used  the 
ccmnunication  software,  MIRROR  II,  on  my  Amstrad  to 
conmunicate  with  my  QL  which  had  software  so  it 
emulated  a  VT-52  terminal.  I  had  some  trouble 
figuring  out  the  cabling.  Peter  Hale  provided  the 
necessary  expertise  to  finally  get  it  working.  After 
that  it  was  simple.  Only  text  (ASCII)  files  can  be 
transferred.  This  means  I  have  to  have  my  ARCHIVE 
programs  in  _jprg  form  rather  than  _pro  form.  If  you 
save  a  program  in  ARCHIVE  with  the  SAVE  "filename" 
ccmrand  then  it  is  saved  in  ASCII  format  (_prg).  If 
you  save  it  with  the  SAVE  OBJECT  "filename"  comnand 
then  it  is  saved  in  binary  format (_pro) .  Normally 
you  keep  large  programs  in  binary  format  because 
they  load  faster  but  for  transfering  to  the  PC  I  had 
to  put  them  all  in  ASCII  files.  Also  my  databases 
had  to  be  in  export  (_exp)  files  (ASCII)  rather  than 
database  (_dbf )  files  for  the  same  reason.  Since 
screens  (_scn)  are  not  ASCII  files  I  can't  transfer 
then.  I  must  reconstruct  them  with  the  ARCHIVE  SEDIT 
canrand  on  my  PC.  After  transferring  I  started 
PC-ARCHIVE,  imported  the  databases,  rebuilt  my 
screens,  started  DBEasy  and  changed  code  where 
problems  existed. 

Sane  differences  between  QL  and  PC  ARCHIVE  : 

The  most  important  difference  for  me  is  that  there 
is  no  POSITION  command  and  RECNUM()  function  in 
PC-ARCHIVE.  I  like  to  use  those  features  to  keep 
track  of  where  I  am  in  a  database.  If  you  use  the 
FIND  ccmrand  it  is  nice  to  know  how  far  you  are  in 
the  file  if  you  find  something. (  They  have  been 
replaced  in  PC-ARCHIVE  by  a  more  powerful  ordering 
and  selecting  process  that  allows  you  to  keep  4 
ordering  and  1  selecting  definitions  at  the  same 
time  and  switch  between  them.  This  is  a  very 
powerful  feature  but  my  code  doesn't  take  advantage 
of  it  yet.  The  BACKUP  comnand  works  differently  in 
the  2  versions.  On  the  QL  it  is  similar  to  a  general 
file  copy  ccmrand  but  on  the  PC  it  only  works  on 
databases  and  does  a  record  by  record  copy.  In 
PC- ARCHIVE  there  is  no  FORMAT  ccmrand.  There  is  no 
RENAME  command  in  QL- ARCHIVE.  The  PC-ARCHIVE  has 
more  complexities  with  paper  and  ink  colors  because 
mono  and  color  monitors  display  differently. 
PC-ARCHIVE  and  the  other  PSION  programs  have  a 
special  task  sequencing  language  (TSL)  which  can  be 
used  to  control  the  program  at  startup.  This  allows 
me  to  have  ARCHIVE  and  DBEasy  start  up 
automatically,  something  I  can't  do  with  QL- ARCHIVE. 
These  are  the  major  differences  I  have  discovered 
when  I  tried  to  run  DBEasy  an  the  PC.  The  hardest 
part  was  dealing  with  all  occurences  of  RECNUM()  and 
POSITION  in  my  code.  I  have  worked  out  a  display 
format  on  the  QL  which  works  surprising  well  on  the 
PC  so  the  DBEasy  program  looks  exactly  the  same  on 
the  PC.  Now  that  I  know  more  about  the  differences  I 
can  plan  ahead  so  conversions  will  be  much  easier. 
Since  PC-ARCHIVE  has  more  features  than  QL-ARCHIVE 
it  will  not  be  as  easy  to  transfer  back  to  the  QL 
once  I  take  advantage  of  those  features. 


12 


DBEasy  Performance  Chart  (time  in  seconds) 

-  Computer  Type  -  -  -  -  - 
DBEasy  QL  IBM  PC  PPC640  AT  AT 
Task       7Mhz      4Mhz       8Mhz     10  MHz  20MHz 


Load  69 
Find  15 
"xxx" 

Step  58 
10  records 

Display  17 
new  page 

Sum  13 
Population 

Order  13 
by  'country' 


94  57  48  10 

17  11  9  2 

50  19  12  8 

20  7  5  2 

9  4  2  1 

18  9  7  1 


Select     19        24  12  7  2 

'Europe* 

In  the  chart  above  I  give  elapsed  time  for  DBEasy  to 
do  various  tasks  on  a  few  different  computers.  I 
used  my  DBEasy  program  with  the  gazet  database  (155 
countries  of  the  world)  modified  for  DBEasy.  The 
time  is  in  seconds.  The  20  MHz  AT  used  DBEasy  from 
hard  drive.  On  all  the  others  it  ran  from  disk 
drive.  I  must  say  that  using  DBEasy  on  the  20MHz 
machine  was  almost  intimidating.  You  couldn't  slow 
it  down  by  doing  anything.  Some  may  be  horrified  to 
see  how  slow  the  QL  is.  But  except  for  the  tasks 
which  require  heavy  screen  work  the  QL  gives  very 
acceptable  responses.  And  those  that  were  slow  like 
stepping  through  10  records  are  adequate  because  you 
wouldn't  be  stepping  through  the  records  unless  you 
wanted  to  read  them  and  you  need  that  much  time  for 
absorbing  the  information  on  the  screen.  Also  notice 
that  finding  things  in  a  database  is  most 
efficiently  done  by  ordering  and  using  locate  if 
possible.  Locate  is  fast  and  is  pretty  much 
independent  of  the  database  file  size. 

How  do  we  judge  the  QLs  performance  against  the 
other  machines?  L  QL  much  slower  in  its  screen 
handling.  This  is  evident  in  QUILL  and  ARCHIVE.  I 
tried  SPEEDSCREEN  and  LIGHTNING  but  they  didn't 
improve  the  times.  Some  programs  still  manage  to 
give  fast  screens.  The  EDITOR  and  TEXT87  are 
examples.  Also  the  QL  was  multitasking  QUILL  while 
DBEasy  was  being  run.  That  didn't  affect  the  speed 
of  doing  the  tasks  "because  QUILL  was  sitting  idle 
None  of  the  other  computers  can  multitask.  None  of 
the  other  computers  can  network  either  without 
expensive  equipment.  And  the  AT  machines  cost  2  to  5 
tiroes  as  much  as  the  QL.  At  some  point  I  will  try 
these  same  tasks  on  a  THOR  and  pass  on  the  results. 
It  should  be  much  closer  to  the  AT  machines.  If  you 
were  to  judge  the  QL  purely  on  response  tiroes  it 
shows  its  age.  If  you  judge  it  on  overall  features 
taking  into  account  its  powerful  operating  system, 
its  cost,  and  how  much  you  can  accomplish  with  it 
then  it  still  can  hold  its  own  against  most  PCs. 

I  have  quite  a  group  of  QL  Softwares  and  I'm 
developing  more  for  both  the  QL  and  the  IBM.  All 
are  priced  low  for  what  they  do.  I  will  list  four 
of  my  newest.  I  invite  you  to  call  or  write  for  a 
complete  listing.    Bill  Cable. 


HOOD  AND  HIND  COMPUTING 
SOFWSRE  PCR  W  QL  and  PC 


is  a  group  of  SUPERBASIC  and 
ARCHIVE  programs  (DIRLUX,  FILEX, DBEasy)  that 
will  help        organize        all  your 

disks/microdrives  so  you  can  make  sense  out 
of  them.  It  includes  DIRlux  which 
displays/prints  directories  is  a  column 
format  and  ahs  a  file  finder.  Also  included 
is  FILEX  which  makes  a  export  file  for 
ARCHIVE  of  your  disks  so  you  can  make  an 
instant  database  of  all  your  files.  You 
import  the  FILEX  export  file  into  ARCHIVE 
with  DBEasy  which  is  also  included.  DBEasy 
is  an  easy  to  use  front  end  for  ARCHIVE  so 
you  can  make  and  manage  all  sorts  of 
databases  without  knowing  the  first  thing 
about  ARCHIVE.  DBEasy  is  also  available 
separately  and  is  described  below.  CHAOS 
BUSTERS  is  tied  together  through  a  Main  Menu 
so  you  can  do  move  around  easily  between  the 
options.  It  is  supplied  with  ample 
documentation  plus  extra  software  not 
described.  If  you  already  have  DBEasy  you 
can  purchase  CHAOS  BUSTERS  for  $9.95. 
($29.95  5  1/4  or  3  1/2  disk) 


An  ARCHIVE  program  that  makes  using 
ARCHIVE  a  snap.  Everything  is  done  from 
simple  menus.  You  don't  need  to  know  any 
ARCHIVE  comands  but  still  have  most  of 
ARCHIVE'S  power.  It  allows  for  the  creation 
and  managing  of  databases  for  all 
applications.  You  can  easily  switch  any  of 
your  databases.  ($21.95  on  5  1/4  or  3  1/2 
disk,  $24.95  on  2  micro) 

PC  Software  for  IBM  ccnpatibles 

PC-PCUR  by  PSION  :  The  same  QUILL,  ABACUS, 
EASEL,  and  ARCHIVE  that  you  use  on  your  QL 
for  the  PC.  They  have  more  features  than  the 
QL  version.  They  come  on  5  1/4  360k  disks 
with  a  thick  manual  and  a  tutor  disk  that 
make  it  easy  to  learn  how  to  use  them  if  you 
don't  know  already.  I  will  include  PS&sy 
free  with  any  purchase  of  PC-FOUR. ($99  on 
5  1/4  disks) 


for  those  who  aready  have 
PC-ARCHIVE  I  offer  DBEasy  in  a  PC  version. 
It  works  almost  exactlty  like  the  QL  version 
and  you  can  export  QL  DBEasy  database  to  the 
PC  and  back.  ($21.95  on  5  1/4  or  3  1/2 
disks) 

Order  today  or  write  for  a  list  of  all 
software  avajjabje.  ; 


Hood  and  Hind  Capting 

(Bill  Cable; 
RR-3  Box  92 
Cornish,  1W  03745 
603  675  2218 


13 


SETTING  DP  QUILL  FOR  PRINTERS 

Seating  up  TYPEFACES  ion,  F4 

Using  "INSTALL  BRS" 

Vesklim ,  3JLJLo*jaru/J 

The  "INSBSLLJBSS11  program  in  our  PSION  suite 
is  used  to  do  all  of  these  jobs  to  make  our 
printer  do  what  we  want  it  to  do.  INSTALL_BAS 
is  used  to  revise  our  PRIMrERJDAf  program  in  the 
PSION  suite  for  use  by  the  Quill,  Easel, 
Archive,  and  Abacus  softwares.  So,  how  do  we  do 
it?  Peter  Hale  gave  one  way  to  do  it  in  the 
last  issue  of  Update.  This  time  we  will  do  it 
in  a  simple  fashion.  If  you  had  trouble  with 
the  procedures  given  in  Peter's  article,  try 
this  and  when  it  works,  go  back  to  Peter's 
article  for  a  more  elaborate  printer  control  set 

*•  FIRST  A  DEMOTION: 

This  and  the  above  style  is  gotten  by  use  of 
the  F4  Key  and  "B  for  BOLD" 

This  style  is  gotten  by  use  of  the  F4  Key 
and  "U  for  Underline". 

ThU  Atylz.  -U  gotten,  by  ua*.  o4  *no,  F4  Kqjj 
and  "H"  4 a*  High,  ScnApt" . 

This  style  is  gotten  by  use  of  the  F4  Key 
and  "L  for  Low  Script" 

Such  CaiMnatioos  (U  tkM,  three  lines 

demonstrate  oaa.  goibuv  by  uAUng  ihe.  F4_Kzn  and 
repeated  electives  of  "B,  H,  L,  or  U". 

But  what  about  this  style  of  print  that 
comes  up  as  "standard"  when  PRINT  is  elected  at 
the  Quill  Cormand  menu?  Well,  the  normal 
"Printer_dat"  program  puts  you  in  "draft  quality 
mode",  while  this  style  is  "Letter  Quality" 
mode. 

OK.  The  illustrations  are  just  to  show  that 
the  quilt  F-4  Key  electives  for  TYPEFACE  need 
not  be  for  the  print  styles  given  to  us  in  the 
PSION  suite.  In  fact,  each  type  of  printer  has 
its  own  typefaces  that  can  be  substituted  for 
such  PSIONi  elnctives  as  "high  Acsupti  low 
script,  and  DOIQ  .  And,  you  can  set  in  any 
style  that  you  choose  for  these  F4  electives. 

The  styles  demonstrated  are  those  that  I 
elected  to  install  in  the  Printer_Dat  program 
for  my  KXP-1124  printer.  Each  user  needs  to 
decide  what  style  is  wanted  and  then  proceed  to 
change  the  Printer_dat  program  to  his  needs. 

This  is  done  by  using  the  Printer  Manual  to 
find  the  Comrand  Codes  to  "install"  in  the 
Printer  Dat  program.  The  "process  of 
installing"  is  via  the  use  of  the  "INSTALLJ3AS" 
program  that  is  in  your  Quill  disk  (MDV)." 


Now  teU  do  W. 

The  electives  given  in  the  steps  below  are 
my  own  for  my  printer.  Use  your  Printer  Manual 
to  substitute  the  command  codes  for  the 
electives  that  you  choose  in  each  of  the  steps. 

1.  Leave  FLP1  and  MDV1  Empty  and  turn  ON  the 
QL.  Then  the  Fl  Key  will  put  you  in  Super 
Basic. 

2.  We  will  use  FLP  commands  but  you  can  use 
MDV  instead. 

3.  Remove    the   write    protect    tab    on  the 
floppy. 

4.  TYPE:  LRUN  FLP  1_INSTALL_BAS 

5.  When  the  Install_bas  program  loads  you 
will  need  to:  .,,-.» 

a.  elect  the  drive    that  your  Quill  disk 

is  in.  _ 

b.  elect  the  ser  port    that  you  use  for 
your  printer. 

6.  The  "Current  Printer_Dat  program  will  be 
loaded  and  this  begins  the  process  of  installing 
your  own  printer  codes . 

7.  A  list  of  different  Printers  will  be 
presented. 

8.  Use  the  Down  Arrow  key  to  highlight 
"OTHER" . 

9.  Use  the  Right  Arrow  Key  to  erase  OTHER 
and  then  type  in  the  name  of  your  printer. 

10.  Use  the  F2  Key  to  EDIT. 

11.  The  printerjdat  set-up  will  be 
displayed. 

12.  Use  the  down  arrow  key  to  elect  each  o£ 
the  following  lines  to  edit.  As  each  line  is 
highlighted,  use  the  right  arrow  key  to  erase 
the  line  (if  needed).     Then   type    in   the  new 

Unea.  PORT:  Make  this  the  Serial  Port  that  you 
use  for  your  printer. 

b.  BAUD  RATE:    Should  be  9600. 

c.  PARITY:  None. 

d.  LINES:  66 

e.  CHRS/LINE:  80  for  Pica,  96  for  Elite,  or 
larger  for  other  smaller  styles  of  print  that 
you  want  THIS  Printer_Dat  program  to  control . 

f .  CONTINUOUS  FORMS:  YES. 

g.  END  OF  LINE:  CR,LF  (carriage  return  and 
line  feed). 

Now  we  will  begin  to  set  in  your  SPECIAL 
PRINTER  CODES  to  SET  your  desired  functions. 

h.  PREAMBLE:  This  sets  the  printer  when 
"PRINT"  is  elected  with  Quill  °*  one  of  the 
other  PSION  softwares.  I  chose  to  set  the 
following  (cammand  codes  for  KXP-1124) 

27,120,1,27,107,2  (This  sets  LETTER  QUALITY 
and  then  Courier  Font,  and  then  ELITE  STYLE). 

Refer  to  step  "e"  above.  For  this  ELITE 
style  the  CHRS/LINE  setting  is  96. 

i.  POST  AMBLE:  Here  we  want  to  assure  that 
when  PRINTING  has  been  done,  the  FORM  is  fed  up 
to  the  start  of  the  next  form.  Insert: 

FF,CR    (Form  Feed  and  Carriage  Return) 

j.    BOLD  ON:    The  Printer  Codes  for  the  Type 


Style  that  you  want  the  F4  Key  to  control :  My 
choice  was: 

27,119.1/27,69,1  (the  first  three  sets 
DOUBLE  HIGH.  The  second  three  sets  EMPHASISE 
MODE  (double  strike).) 

k.  BOLD  OFF:  Use  the  OFF  codes  for  each  of 
the  ON  codes  used  in  j  above.  In  my  case  the 
OFF  Codes  were:  27,119,0,27,70 

1.  UNDERLINE  ON:  My  printer  codes  used  for 
Underline  ON  was:  27,45,1.  I  decided  that  if  I 
wanted  to  Underline  something,  I'd  also  shift 
into  EMPHASISE  MODE,  27,69,1.  So  the  six 
commands  are  entered  as:  27,45,1,27,69,1 

m.  Use  the  OFF  codes  for  each  of  the  ON 
codes  in  1  above.  (27,45,0,27,70) 

n.  HIGH  SCRIPT  ON:  I  decided  to  use  my 
printer's  Script  font,  which  is  gotten  with  the 
codes:  27,107,4. 

o.  The  off  codes  for  the  above  is  to  return 
to  the  Courier  font,  which  is:  27,107,2 

p.  LOW  SCRIPT  ON:  I  decided  to  use  my 
printer's  ITALIC  style  and  DOUBLE  STRIKE,  the 
command  codes:  27,52,27,71 

q.  Off  Codes  for  the  above  are:  27,53,27,72 

r.  This  ends  the  Printer_Dat  set-up,  and 
none  of  the  other  lines  were  changed. 

13.  NOW  WE  NEED  TO  DO  THREE  MORE  THINGS: 
I'LL  STEP  IT  OUT  A,  B,  C. 

A.  Run  the  cursor  up  to  the  NAME  (first 
line) . 

B.  Touch  F2  to  SAVE.  Your  new  Printer_Dat 
program  will  be  SAVED  to  disk  or  mdv, 

C.  Touch  F5  to  INSTALL.  Your  PRINTER_DAT 
program  will  be  Installed  as  the  one  to  use  when 
PRINT  is  elected  by  one  of  the  PSION  programs. 

mi  Wel 1 ,  I'll  give  you  some  of  my 
illogical  reasoning.  I  Uhs,  to  knap  thAJig* 
vvwxj  simple,.  Instead  of  putting  in  a  lot  of 
special  key  codes,  you'll  now  have  ONE  disk  or 
mdv  for  ELITE  STYLE.  The  F4  Keys  are  set  up  to 
give  you  the  examples  used  in  this  article. 

Next,  REPEAT  the  steps  given  for  setting  up 
another  Quill  Disk  for  PICA  80  chrs/line,  and 
still  another  for  "another  style".  I  set  up  my 
third  disk  for  the  nice  MICRON  120  chrs/line 
that  my  KXP-1124  has.  To  do  these  two 
additional  disks  only  required  changing  two 
lines,  the  line  for  CHRS/LINE  and  the  Preamble 
line  for  the  SET-UP  UPON  BOOT  IN. 

There  are  several  reasons  that  I  decided  to 
use  separate  disks  for  the  three  styles.  First, 
the  PSION  suite  does  not  let  you  have  different 
"DESIGN"  for  successive  printed  pages.  Then, 
the  different  widths  of  print  (Pica,  Elite, 
Micron)  mixed  in  printed  lines  would  cause 
FORMAT  inconsistancies.  Even  so,  there  is  one 
slight  problem  with  this  Printer_dat.  When 
using  BOLD,  the  characters  are  DOUBLE  HIGH.  For 


the  best  results  BOLD  should  be  used  only  for 
HEADERS,  and  for  printing  on  the  FIRST  line  of  a 
separated  paragraph.  Otherwise  when  BOLD  is 
used  for  more  than  one  line  there  isn't  any 
separation  between  the  two  lines. 

YOU  COULD  SET  UP  LESS  SPACING  BETWEEN  LINES 

One  could  set  up  other  PRINTER_DAT  programs 
to  use  CONDENSED  PRINT  or  SUPERSCRIPT  for 
printing.  These  styles  used  for  manuscript 
printing  need  shorter  spacing  between  lines. 
Since  I'm  not  a  Lawyer  and  do  not  need  to  use 
"fine  print"  to  hide  legalese  in  contracts,  I 
really  do  not  need  such  small  printing. 

But  if  you  do,  you  can  use  the  PREAMBLE  line 
to  SET  the  Print  style,  then  superscript,  and 
THEN,  SET  the  PRINTER  LINE  SPACING  to  something 
other  than  1/8"  line  spacing,  say  1/16"  for 
superscript,  or  5/64"  for  condensed.  Those 
settings  would  give  about  120,  or  96  lines  per 
page  form,  and  a  whale  of  a  lot  of  data  per 
page.  Imagine,  a  print  style  of  MICRON  120 
chrs/line,  then  superscript,  then  1/16"  line 
spacing,  1/16",  to  give  120  lines  per  page,  to 
give  over  12000  characters  per  printed  page! 
Or,  Condensed  160  Chrs/line,  superscript,  1/32" 
line  spacing  to  give  240  lines  per  page,  to  give 
40,000  characters    per  page!    (My   math  could  be 

°"->  Sunrary 

1.  Every  user  should  learn  to  use  the 
INSTALL_BAS  program  to  make  tailored  PRINTER_DAT 
set-ups  that  your  printer  is  capable  of 
supporting. 

2.  Once  you  do  a  simple  new  set-up  with  the 
Install_bas  program,  you'll  remember  how  and  you 
can  always  revise  the  _dat  program  to  do 
whatever  you  want  to  do  with  your  printer. 

3.  Each  brand  of  printer  has  its  own  best 
print  styles  that  should  be  taken  advantage  of 
with  custom  Printerjdat  set-ups., 

4.  While  I  cannot  find  much  use  for  setting 
up  different  styles  of  print  that  have  different 
character  widths,  it  can  be  done.  One  can 
account  for  inconsistant  line  lengths  of 
separated  paragraphs,  but  mixed  widths  of  print 
in  the  same  line  would  be  difficult  to  format. 
Also,  the  DESIGN  FUNCTION  would  not  provide 
consistant  page  length  with  Mixed  styles  and 
different  printer  line  spacing. 

5.  A  simple  approach  is  to  use  different 
disks/mdvs  for  Print  styles,  with  all  styles  on 
one  disk's  printer  dat  having  the  same  character 
width. 

6.  If  you  DONT  learn  to  use  Install_bas,  you 
will  not  have  much  lattitude  of  style 
selections.  You  will  ALWAYS:  Print  in  Draft 
Quality,  Pica  80  Chr  lines,  and  your  F4  Typeface 
electives  will  be  for  superscript  and  subscript 
styles.  These  are  fixed  by  the  given 
Printer_dat  program. 

learn  to  use  INSTALL_BAS.  To  do  so  just 
requires  a  little  practice,  and  coordination 
with  the  printer  manual.    EnJoV!  _BJ- 


15 


The  following  article,  by  David  McCall,  is  second  in  a  series.  The  first  article  was 
given  in  the  October  1989  issue.  The  Program  Listing  given  in  this  issue  can  be 
linked  with  that  given  in  the  Oct.  issue.  Or,  the  individual  programs  will  work 
independant 1 y . 

WINDOW  DEFINING: 
A  Program,  part  III 

by  David  McCall 

This  is  the  next  to  last  article  for  the  window  defining  program.  The  first 
one  described  the  machine  language  routine  which  was  necessary  to  swap  screens. 
The  second  one  detailed  the  variety  of  functions  needed  and  now  the  procedures 
will  be  discuss.  After  this  series  has  been  completed  you  should  have  a  better 
understanding  of  SuperBASIC's  functions  and  procedures  and  their  variety  of  uses 
along  with  a  better  understanding  of  the  value  of  using  machine  code  to  supplement 
a  programs  speed  and  versatility. 

As  in  the  previous  articles  indentation  has  been  used  throughout  the  writing 
of  these  procedures.  Most  of  the  procedures  are  straight  forward  but  different 
techniques  have  been  used  to  illustrate  the  power  and  versatility  of  SuperBASIC 
especially  when  ToolKit  II  is  installed.  Most  of  the  procedures  use  the  Toolkit's 
additional  utilities,  PRINT  USING  and  CHAR  INC.  The  procedures  can  be  rewritten  to 
avoid  these  routines  if  it  is  necessary. 

Let's  start  off  by  describing  the  first  procedure  at  line  4000.  The  procedure 
is  called  done  and  takes  four  parameters  xX,  y%,  len%,  and  value%.  The  procedure 
prints  the  value%  in  a  signed  field  of  length,  len%,  at  position  x%,y%  and  clears 
the  default  value  which  was  printed  at  x%+l,y%.  This  procedure  is  used  after  a 
value  has  been  typed  in  to  update  the  screen. 

PRINT  USING  was  used  to  ensure  the  number  lined  up  properly  and  stayed  within 
its  allotted  space.  The  PRINT  USING  function  takes  a  string  as  its  first  para- 
meter, which  describes  how  the  successive  parameters  will  be  printed.  In  our  case 
the  string  was  made  up  of  a  SuperBASIC  function  FILL$  which  creates  a  string  of 
character  of  a  desired  length.  A  was  concatenated  before  it  to  ensure  there 
was  room  for  the  sign  to  be  printed.  For  more  information  on  the  above  functions 
read  the  Toolkit  II  manual  section  13.1  and  the  SuperBASIC  manual  section 
KEYWORDS  page  23. 

The  next  procedures  prin t  lis t  max  chr ,  line  4050,  and  print_list_max_point 
line  4110,  displays  the  maximum  number  of  characters  that  can  be  displayed  in  the 
window  (max_xc,maxyc)  and  the  maximum  point  positions  (max_xp,max_yp) ,  the 
graphics  origin  (xg»yg)>  tne  number  of  pixels  which  corresponds  to  the  window 
height,  and  the  midway  point  between  the  origin  and  the  maximum  point  position. 
Arrows  are  printed  after  each  value  to  indicate  which  direction  it  refers  to.  This 
has  proved  useful  to  clear  up  the  confusion  about  which  direction  the  x  and  y 
parameters  refer  to  in  different  commands. 

Remember  rnaxxc,  max_yc,  max_xp,  and  max_yp  are  the  functions  written  in  the 
previous  article.  The  global  variables  are: 

scl  =  the  SCALE  of  the  window 
xg,yg  -  the  graphics  origin  defined  by  the  SCALE  command 
scr_x,scr__y  =  the  x  and  y  dimension  of  the  window 
brder  =  the  BORDER  width 
cxi,cyi  =  the  number  of  pixels  a  character  occupies  in  the  x 
and  y  directions 
SWAP,swap2  =  the  machine  language  address  to  swap  the  command 
and  defining  windows,  respectively 
xpO,ypO,sxO,syO  =  the  position  and  size  of  the  window  being  swapped 
cbl,cb2,cb3  =  the  color  of  the  BORDER 
cpl,cp2,cp3  =  the  color  of  the  PAPER 
cil,ci2,ci3  -  the  color  of  the  INK 

csw,csh  =  character  size  width  and  height 

doit  =  the  flag  which  indicates  what  to  display  in  the 
definine  window  after  a  command 

a_or_m  =  the  flag  which  indicates  whether  the  window  is  being 
moved  or  altered  in  size 


16 


The  procedure  that  does  most  of  the  work  is  recalculate,  line  4220.  It  tak  -s 
care  of  erasing  the  old  window,  putting  the  new  one  back  up,  and  updating  the 
appropriate  variables.  Here  we  see  the  first  use  of  the  machine  language  routine 
which  was  loaded  into  the  location  pointed  to  by  swap2.  As  you  remember  the  para- 
meters for  this  routine  are  save/recall,  origin,  and  size,  see  line  4230.  If  the 
save/recall  position  is  one  the  previous  screen  is  recalled  which  is  the  first 
thing  that  is  done  in  this  procedure.  Next  it  checks  to  see  if  the  window  size  is 
too  big  and  adjusts  if  necessary.  The  new  window  is  opened  and  set  up.  Next  the 
origin  and  size  for  our  machine  language  swap  routine  are  recalculated,  see  part  I 
of  this  series  and  lines  4310  to  4340.  The  screen  is  save  under  our  new  window  and 
then  the  window  is  displayed. 

The  next  two  procedures  displays  information  to  the  user.  The  first,  results 
line  4400,  displays  all  the  relevant  information  about  the  current  window,  the 
defining  window,  that  is  being  constructed.  The  second  one,  commands  line  4690, 
prints  a  table  of  the  commands  that  are  available.  Everything  is  labelled,  placed 
and  colored  to  ease  in  reading.  An  interesting  approach  has  been  used  to  print 
this  information.  One  color  of  text  is  printed  at  a  time  and  each  time  the  ink 
color  is  change  the  cursor  is  repositioned  at  the  top  and  the  next  mask  is 
printed.  This  is  accomplished  by  using  OVER  1  and  tends  to  save  some  memory  by  not 
repeatedly  changing  the  INK  color  over  and  over  again. 

The  display  procedure,  line  4790,  is  an  added  visual  feature  which  as  proved 
useful,  in  creating  windows.  It  fills  the  current  window  with  'QL'  or  puts  a  hash 
at  the  graphics  origin  depending  on  the  last  command  executed.  This  helps  size  the 
window  when  you  want  your  characters  to  exactly  fit  the  window  or  when  you  want 
the  origin  in  a  specific  location.  By  looking  at  lines  4800  to  4870,  we  see  that 
the  SELect  ON  command  was  used  instead  of  the  IF-THEN-ELSE  construct.  This 
decision  was  made  in  part  to  show  an  alternative  to  the  IF  statements  and  to  allow 
an  easier  change  in  the  future  if  different  displays  are  wanted  after  other 
commands . 

Of  course  the  window  to  display  the  information,  the  command  window,  needs  to 
be  created.  This  is  accomplished  in  the  procedure  setup,  line  4900.  LOCal 
variables  are  used  with  same  name  as  global  ones.  This  allows  us  to  keep  the  same 
descriptive  variable  names  without  changing  the  global  values.  The  window  para- 
meters are  READ  in  through  DATA  lines,  line  2  to  5.  (NOTE,  lines  8* to  13  are  the 
initial  values  of  the  defining  window  and  will  be  used  in  the  main  program.)  This 
allows  easier  changes  to  the  window  without  searching  through  the  entire  program 
to  find  where  the  window  was  defined.  A  RESTORE  should  always  be  used  before 
READing  any  DATA  because  the  line  number  from  where  the  DATA  will  start  to  be  READ 
is  not  reinitialed  with  the  RUN  command.  The  text  '»  MOVE  «'  or  '»  ALTER  «T~Ts 
also  displayed  depending  upon  the  value  of  a_or_m  which  will  be  set  in  the  main 
program.  Finally,  the  area  of  the  screen  which  the  command  window  will  occupy  is 
saved. 

Last  but  not  least,  a  procedure  to  print  the  title  and  author  of  the  program 
is  included,  name  line  5120.  The  extra  underlined  spaces  are  used  to  draw  a  line 
to  separate  the  title  from  the  rest  of  the  command  window  and  underline  the 
author's  name.  In  some  cases  UNDERlining  or  drawing  a  BLOCK  for  a  straight  line  is 
faster  and  easier. 

The  line  numbering  used  has  been  constructed  to  ensure  that  all  the  articles 
can  be  merged  together  without  out  conflict.  In  the  final  article  the  simple  main 
program -will  be  discussed.  The  functions  and  procedures  presented  in  this  series 
is  a  basis  to  build  and  learn  from.  In  some  instances  a  better  approach  could  have 
been  used  but  the  intent  was  to  show  several  different  ways  to  attack  a  problem. 
If  you  don't  want  to  type  in  the  listing  an  "Issue  Disk"  will  be  available. 


LISTING  A 

1  :  REMark  Command  window 

2  DATA  301,211,0,0:  REMark  screen  -  height, width, x,y 

3  DATA  0,0,0:  REMark  paper  color,  contrast,  stipple 

4  DATA  2,2,0:  REMark  ink  color,  contrast, stipple 

5  DATA  2,0,12,10:  REMark  char  size  -  wid th, height, x_inc,y_inc 

6  : 

7  :  REMark  Defining  window 

8  DATA  100,50,320,128:  REMark  screen  -  height, width, x,y 

9  DATA  1,7,7,0:  REMark  border  size,  color,  contrast, stipple 


17 


10  DATA  0,0,0:  REMark  paper  color,  contrast,  stipple 

11  DATA  2,2,0:  REMark  ink  color,  contrast, stipple 

12  DATA  100,0,0:  REMark  scale,  (x,y)  graphics  origin 

13  DATA  2,0,12,10:  REMark  char  size  -  width, height, x_inc,y_inc 

14  : 

4000  DEFine  PROCedure  done(x%,y%,len%, value) 
4010  INK#3,4 

4020       AT#3,x%,y%:  PRINT  US ING#3,  '-'&FILL$( '#' ,len%) , value :AT#3,x%+l,y% 

: PRINT#3 , FILL$ ( '  T, len%+l ) 
4030  END  DEFine  done 
4040  : 

4050  DEFine  PROCedure  print_list_max_chr 
4060  AT#3,8,13 

4070       INK#3,4:PRINT_USING#3,'##  tL'  ,max_xc 
4080      AT#3,9,13:PRINT_USING#3,,##  0',max_yc 
4090  END  DEFine  print_list_max_chr 
4100  : 

4110  DEFine  PROCedure  print_list_max_point 
4120  AT#3,8,13: 

4130       INK#3,4:PRINT_USING#3, '-###  & 1 ,max_xp 
4140       AT#3,9,13:PRINT_USING#3,  '-###  fl'  .max_yp 
4150      AT#3 ,12,13:  PRINT_USING#3 , '  -###  & 1 ,  xg 
4160      AT#3 ,13,13:  PRINT  USING#3 , '  -###  %  * ,  yg 
4170       AT#3 , 16 , 12 : PRINT?3 , scry-2*brder-l 

4180       PRINT_USING#3,'\     -##.##  ,  -###.##'  ,-(max_xp-xg)/2,-(max_yp-yg)/2 
4190  name 

4200  END  DEFine  print  list  max  point 

4210  :  "  ~ 

4220  DEFine  PROCedure  recalculate 

4230       CALL  swap2,l,xp0,yp0,sx0,sy0 

4240      IF  scr_x+xp>512  THEN  scr_x=512-xp 

4250       IF  scr_y+yp>256  THEN  scr_y=256-yp 

4260      0PEN#4,  ,scr_,&scr_x&'x'&scr_y&,a1&xp&,x,&yp 

4270  PAPER#4,cpl,cp2,cp3:INK#4,cil,ci2,ci3 

4280       SCALE#4 , scl , xg , yg 

4290  CSIZE#4,csw,csh 

4300       CHAR  INC  #4,cxi.cyi 

4310       xpO=INT(xp/8-.5):IF  xpO<0  THEN  xpO=0 

4320       sxO=INT(scr_x/8+.5)+2:IF  xp0+sx0>64  THEN  sx0=64-xp0 

4330      ypO-yp-l:IF  ypO<0  THEN  ypO=0 

4340       syO=scr_y+l:IF  ypO+syO>512  THEN  sy0=512-yp0 

4350      CALL  swap2,0,xpO,ypO,sxO,syO 

4360      B0RDER#4,  brder,cbl,cb2,cb3 

4370  CLS#4 

4380  END  DEFine  recalculate 
4390  : 

4400  DEFine  PROCedure  results 
4410  0VER#3,1 

4420       INK#3,4:PRINT#3,'scr_     x     a  x' 

4430      PRIOT#3,'    BORDER     ,  . 

4440       PRINT#3,'      PAPER  , 

4450       PRINT#3,'         INK    ,  ,' 

4460       PRINT#3,*      SCALE       ,  *  ,' 

4470       PRINr#3,*  CSIZE 

4480       PRINT#3, 'CHAR^NC  ,*; 

4490       PRINT#3,\\'plot:  max_x  ='\TO    6;'max__y  =  \\T0  6;  min_x  =  \TO  6;  min_y  - 
4500       PRINI#3,\' print:  max_x  -  '\T0  7: 'max_y 
4510      PRINI#3  ,\  *  pixel :  max_x  =  *  \K)  7 ;  max_y  = 1 
4520  AT#3,0,0 

4530      INK#3,7:PRINT_USING#3,'       #########  ###V  ,scr_x,scr_y,xp,yp 

4540      PRINT_USING#3,'  ##  #  #  #V ,brder,cbl,cb2,cb3 

4550      PRIOTJJSIN^,1  #  #  #\' ,cpl,cp2,cp3 

4560       PRINT_USING#3,f  #  #  #V  ,cil,ci2,ci3 

4570       PRINT_USING#3,'  ###-###  -###\' , scl, xg,yg 

4580       PRINT_USING#3, '  ##\',csw,csh 

4590       PRINT  USING#3, 1  ##  ##V ,cxi,cyi 

4600       PRINT:USING#3,'\  -####.###  «»\  -###  UV 

,max  xp,max_yp 

4610       PRINT  USlNG#3,'\  -###  <»\  ?l\ »xg»Yg 

4620       PRINT~USING#3,'\  ##  ti\  ##  4»\ »max_xc,max_yc 

4630       PRINr~USING#3,»\  ###  «A  ###  U\ 

, max_xpix , max  ypix 
4640  INK#3,2:UNDER#3,1 

4650       AT#3 ,18,0: PRINT#3 , '  ' ; 


18 


4660  OVER#3,0:UNDER#3,0 
4670  END  DEFine  results 
4680  : 

4690  DEFine  PROCedure  commands 
4700  0VER#3,1 

4710       INK#3,7:PRINT#3,'       M'V       A'V       L'Y       S'V       I'Y       P'V  B»\ 
C'\'       R\*       A'V       S'Y       A'Y       S'V  MV^tj/VYSPC'V 
'  RTN'Y  ESC' 
4720  AT#3,0,0 

4730       INK#3,4:PRINT#3,'        ove\'         lter'\'         etter  size'Y  cale'X 
'         nk'\*         aper'V         order' V         ommands\'  esults'\ 
1         bsolute  position's'         tep  move'Y         absolute  size'\ 
'         tep  alter \'         ode'Y       -moves  screen  or'\'  alters  size'\ 

'       -redraws  screen  '\'&' 

4740  AT#3,9,0 

4750       INK#3, 2 : PRIOT#3, ' Ctrl' \' Ctrl '\'  alt'V  alt'\ 'ctrl'WWV  EXITS' 
4760  0VER#3,0 
4770  END  DEFine 
4780  : 

4790  DEFine  PROCedure  display 

4800       SELect  ON  doit 

4810  ON  doit=l 

4820  FOR  i=l  TO  max_xc 

4830  PRINT#4 , FILL$ ( ' QL ' , max_yc ) 

4840  END  FOR  i 

4850  ON  doit=2 

4860  LI.NE#4,  5,0  TO  -5,0:LINE  #4,0,-5  TO  0,5 

4870       END  SELect 

4880  END  DEFine  display 
4890  : 

4900  DEFine  PROCedure  setup 

4910  LOCal  scr  x,scr^,xp,yp,cpl,cp2,cp3,cil,ci2,ci3,csw,csh,cxi,cyi 

4920       RESTORE  4000 

4930       READ  scr_x,scr_y ,xp,yp 

4940      READ  cpl,cp2,cp3 

4950       READ  cil,ci2,ci3 

4960       READ  csw,csh,cxi,cyi 

4970       IF  scr_x+xp>512  THEN  scr_x=512-xp 

4980       IF  scrjH-yp>256  THEN  scr_j=256-yp 

4990       0PEN#3 , '  con_ '  &scr_x&  *  x '  &scr_y& '  a* &xp& 1  x '  &yp& '  10 ' 

5000  PAPER#3,cpl,cp2,cp3:INK#3,cil,ci2,ci3 

5010  CSIZE#3,csw,csh 

5020       CHAR_INC  #3,cxi,cyi 

5030  AT#3,0,0 

5040       IF  a_or_m  THEN 

5050  PRINT#3,*»  MOVE  «  ' 

5060  ELSE 

5070  PRINT#3,*»  ALTER  «' 

5080       END  IF 

5090       CALL  SWAP, 0,0, 0,38, 211 
5100  END  DEFine  setup 
5110  : 

5120  DEFine  PROCedure  name 
5130     "  INK#3,4 

5140       AT#3 ,19,6: PRINT#3 , *  Wind  Def  * 
5150       PRINT#3,'by  '; 
5160  INK#3,7 

5170       PRINT#3,' David  McCall  »; 

5180  INK#3,4 

5190  PRIN^'aigsg* 

5200  INK#3,2:UNDER#3,1:0VER#3,1 

5210       AT#3 ,18,0: PRINT#3 , 1  • ; 

5220       AT#3 , 20 , 4 : PRINT#3 , '  ' ; 

5230  UNDER#3,0:OVER#3,0 

5240  END  DEFine  name 


19 


C3JL.  SPREADSHEET  MATR  I  X   


Bob  Har  tung 


1: 

2! 

3! EXPENSE  ITEMS: 
4! 

5!  Bus.niles 
61  IRS  mileage 
7!Postage  &  fees 


i  H 
1990 


I  I  !  J 
FIWNC1AL  REPORT 


jan 


C5*8.255 
8 
S 


sun(C6:C8) 


FEB 

MAR 

APR 

MAY 

JUN 

JUL 

AUG 

SEP 

OCT 

NOV 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 
8 

8 
8 

8 
8 

8 
8 

8 
8 

8 
8 

8 

8 
8 

8 
8 

8 
8 

sun(C14:C16)  - 


18! EXPENSE/MONTH 
11! 

12! INCOME  SOURCES: 
13! 

H'.Uidget  Co. 
15IABC  Specialties 
MS  ...  . 
17! 

18!  INCOME/MONTH 
19! 

28!  1990  BEGINN1N6  BAL  (enter  constant) 
21 ! 

225T0TAL  INCOME  018 

23!   

24! CASH  ON  HAND  C28+C22 

WiTOTAL  EXPENSES  018 

27!   

28! ENDING  BALANCE  C24-C24 

29 1 

After  creating  and  saving  a  copy  of  the  above  Abacus  (SS) 
matrix  for  a  simple  accounting  format,  only  a  few  addi- 
tional steps  are  required  to  adapt  it  for  any  similar  uses 
of  your  own.  It  is  easier  to  center  the  heading  in  row  1 
if  it  is  done  last  so  start  at  cell  A3  after  booting  up 
SS.  The  default  cell-width  on  boot-up  is  10,  but  we  will 
change  this  to  8  later  on  so  most  printers  will  do 
144-column  printouts  of  the  full  spreadsheet  in  one  pass. 

Text  entries  are  made  by  keying  '  as  the  very  first 
character.  Text  entries  made  to  one  cell  may  span  two 
cells  as  long  as  the  second  cell  is  empty.  The  closing 
is  supplied  by  SS  when  ENTER  is  keyed.  To  avoid  confusion, 
if  you  miss  entering  the  opening  ■  it  is  best  to  key  ESC 
and  start  over.  Enter  the  monthly  headings  across  row  3, 
and  all  the  other  labels.  If  the  left-most  labels  in 
column  A  all  fill  the  A  cells  they  will  retain  a  uniform 
left  margin  when  a  right-justify  is  used  for  text.  Do  not 

enter  the   lines  nor  the  formulas  just  yet  as 

printed  out  in  the  example  or  indicated  by  two  -  dashes. 

When  you  have  completed  all  the  labeling  with  ENDING 
BALANCE  as  cell  A28,  continue  adding  empty  cells  by  en- 
tering a  single  '  in  column  A  for  as  many  expense  and 
income  catagories  as  you  intend  to  add,  plus  a  few  extras 
for  any  you  may  want  to  add  later.  The  reason  for  this  is 
that  when  additional  rows  are  inserted  anywhere  above  the 
final  row  in  the  matrix,  anything  in  the  last  lines  is 
overwritten,  so  nothing  is  lost  if  these  are  null  cells. 

Change  the  cell-width  by  keying  F3,  G  for  Grid,  W  for 
Width,  8  for  the  new  column  width,  FROM  A  TO  0.  Set  text 
to  right-justify  by  keying  F3,  J  for  Justify,  ke?  ENTER  to 
change  CELLS,  ENTER  for  TEXT,  R  for  Right,  and  range 
C3:028.  Enter  whatever  heading  you  want  to  use  in  row  1. 

We  are  ready  now  to  start  plugging  in  formulas  and 
numbers.  Move  the  cursor  to  C5  and  enter  8  (zero).  No 
opening  quote  1  is  used  for  numeric  or  formula  entries.  To 
repeat  this  across  row  5  the  ECHO  command  is  used  by 
keying  F3,  E  for  Echo,  ENTER  (for  the  cell  on  which  the 


ANNUAL 
DEC  TOTALS 

8  sum(C5:N5) 
8 

~  sum7c"i8~:N18) 


8  sum(C14:N14) 

8 

8 

sum(C18!N18) 
rows  7,  8, 


cursor  is  resting),  range  C5:N5-  Do  this  for 

14,  15,  16.  After  entering  '          as  text  in  ceils  C9  and 

C17,  use  ECHO  to  repeat  in  ranges  C9:0?  and  C17:017, 
respectively.  If  you  will  have  5-digit  figures  in  the  0 
column,  you  may  want  to  use  8  dashes  there  for  neatness. 

Enter  the  formula  as  given  in  cell  C6  and  ECHO  this  in 
range  Enter  the  formula  as  given  in  C18  and  ECHO 

this  in  range  C1B:N18.  Enter  the  formula  as  given  in  C18 
and  ECHO  this  in  range  C18-.N18.  Enter  the  formula  as  given 
in  05  and  ECHO  this  in  range  05:08.  Enter  the  formula  as 
given  in  014  and  ECHO  this  in  range  014:016.  In  cell  018 
enter  sum(C18:N18),  in  cell  018  enter  sum(C18j  N18),  in 
cell  C28  enter  8  or  a  beginning  balance,  in  cell  C22  enter 

018,  in  cell  23  enter  '  ,  in  cell  24  enter  C28+C22, 

in  cell  26  enter  018,  in  cell  C27  enter  ■  ,  in  cell 

C28  enter  C24-C26.  CELL  formats  persist  till  changed. 

Change  all  numbers  to  right-justify  by  keying  F3,  J  for 
Justify,  D  to  change  defaults,  N  for  numbers,  R  for  Right. 
If  any  cells  need  to  be  moved  right*  after  new  entries, 
this  may  be  done  by  the  CELL  mode  of  the  Justify  sequence, 
then  specifying  the  range  or  just  a  single  cell,  eg:  C8. 

To  create  a  two-place  decimal  format  for  aligning  all 
monetary  figures,  key  F3,  U  for  Units,  D  for  Default,  D 
for  Decimal,  and  two  for  number  of  places.  For  better 
clarity,  any  single  cell  or  range  of  cells  such  as  niUiqi 
may  initially  be  set  to  a  single  8  with  CELL  and  6ENERAL, 
then  reset  to  two-place  decimals  as  entries  are  made.  For 
a  window  display,  with  cursor  at  CI  key  F3,  W,  V,  ENTER. 

With  this  matrix  as  given,  a  narrow  carriage  (letter- 
width)  printer  that  has  a  condensed  font  of  17  c.p.i.  will 
print  the  entire  spreadsheet  in  one  pass  if  the  column- 
width  is  set  to  144  by  using  the  DESIGN  command.  If  your 
printer  will  not  do  144  characters  per  line  or  you  wish  to 
do  printouts  in  a  larger  font,  then  the  spreadsheet  may  be 
done  in  two  or  more  segments,  eg:  key  F3,  P  for  Print, 
ENTER  for  display,  N  for  grid  only,  range  A1:J28  for  the 
first  segment,  then  repeat,  using  Kl:028  as  the  range. 

The  matrix  we  now  have  may  be  saved  and  used  as  the 
foundation  for  any  spreadsheets  that  use  this  type  format. 
To  insert  more  rows  into  it,  with  the  cursor,  on  the  row 
following  the-  position  where  new  rows  are  to  be  added,  key 
F3,  6  for  Grid,  I  for  Insert,  ENTER  (or  row  number),  and 
the  number  of  rows  to  be  inserted.  ECHO  any  values  or 
formulas  as  necessary.  Any  existing  formulas  are  adjusted 
when  rows  are  re-numbered  by  using  Insert.  Add  null 
rows  to  the  bottom  of  the  matrix  if  necessary. 


TS-2068  BUSINESS  SOFW 

AR1-9.B1 

By:  Jim  Bretz,  Pernam,  MN. 

Manages  Customer  Charge  Accounts 
Pests  new  sales 

Computes  interest  charges 
Posts  payments  to  accounts 
Sums  accounts  balances 
Prints  out  Reports 
Prints  out  invoices 

This  comprehensive  software  proves  that  the 
TS-2068  is  a  mighty  fine  computer  for  running 
a  business.  The  equilivant  of  this  program  in 
use  throughout  the  World  costs  hundreds  of 
dollars.  Jim  Bretz  designed  and  uses  this 
AR1-9  software  to  run  his  large  Hardware 
business.  Jim  has  versions  of  the  software 
for  both  LKDOS  and  SPDOS  (Millenia  K  DOS). 
The  version  given  here  is  for  LKDOS  and  the 
V-3  LKDOS  Printer  Driver  in  EPROM.  However, 
any  printer  driver  that  supports  TAB  can  be 
used.  Also,  the  software  requires  the  64 
column  screen  to  be  enabled.  This  can  be  via 
use  of  TASWIDE  or  the  Zebra  OS-64  Cartridge. 
If  you  are  using  LKDOS  then  TASWIDE  would  be 
appropriate.  Incidentally  if  you  dont  have 
TASWIDE,  which  works  great  with  LKDOS,  you 
should  spend  a  few  bucks  to  get  it  (RMG 
Enterprises  is  a  good  source.). 

If  you  are  using  a  DOS  other  than  LKDOS  (or 
Cassette) ,  then  as  you  key  in  the  program  just 
substitute  the  LOAD  and  SAVE  commands  for  the 
storage  medium  that  you  use. 

The  Software  programming  is  done  entirely 
in  BASIC  which  makes  the  operation  very  user 
friendly  and  adaptable  for  customizing  to  your 
special  needs.  In  fact,  it  is  so  user 
friendly  that  only  a  few  tips  to  get  started 
need  to  be  discussed.  The  Main  Menu  is  given 
below: 

ACCTS  REC.  Main  Menu 

1.  ENTER  NEW  FILE 

2.  VIEW  FILE 

3.  POST  SLIPS' 

4.  COPY  TO  PAPER 

5.  REPORTS 

6.  NEW  HEADER/CLOSING 

7.  EDIT  LINE 

8.  CLOSE  FILE/END  DAY 

9.  SAVE  DATA  (BACK  UP) 

Key  in  the  whole  program  and  SAVE  with  a 
starting  line  of  9500.  (  SAVE  "AR1-9.B1"  LINE 
9500  ).  Next  SAVE  a  couple  of  dummy  account 
files  that  will  be  needed.  (  DIM 
a$(20,5,21):  SAVE  "01001a. A$"DATA  a$()  ). 

And:  (  DIM  d$(20,24,20) :  SAVE  "01001d.A$" 
DATA  d$()  ). 

These    two  character    arrays  saved   to  disk 


will  become  durrmy  files  for  the  program  to 
sense  a  need  to  establish  new  files. 

The  Auto  Load  program 

After  Saving  the  main  program  and  the  two 
dummy  files,  key  in  the  LKDOS  Autostart 
program.  This  Autostart  program  may  need 
slight  changes  to  initialize  your  own  CPI 
interface  with  POKES  to  the  LKDOS.  Lines  30 
and  40  assumes  that  you  have  SAVED  the  taswid 
Code  via  <SAVE  "taswid. CI"  CODE  63223,1492  > 
to  the  same  disk  as  you  saved  the  main 
program.  Key  in  the  Autostart  program  with 
your  needed  changes  and  Auto  SAVE  it  by:  < 
GO  TO  60  >.  Line  60  lowers  RAM  TOP  to  300 
bytes  above  the  program  length  to  conserve 
disk  space.  Then  the  Autostart  Program  itself 
will  restore  FREE  Memory  as  it  loads  in  (line 
#5)  and  sets  RAM  TOP  to  account  for  the  taswid 
code  load. 

SOME  MAIN  PROGRAM  TIPS 

When  the  main  program  loads  (via  the 
Autostart  program)  it  begins  running  at  line 
#9500.  Line  #9530  prompts  for  input  of  DATE. 
The  date  must  be  SIX  numbers  as:  010190,  which 
would  represent  the  date  of  Janurary  1,  1990. 

Then  Line  #9560  loads  in  the  first  account. 
In  this  case  it  is  the  dummy  account  that  you 
saved  with  the  name  "01001a. A$".  Then  line 
#9565  loads  in  the  second  part  of  the  account 
which  you  saved  with  the  name  "OlOOld.AS". 

Then  when  these  two  files  (dummys)  are 
loaded,  the  Main  Menu  is  presented. 

Select  <1>  ENTER  NEW  FILE.  Now  here  is  a 
little  quirk.  The  file  number  that  you  enter 
must  be  7  characters  in  length  and  must 
conform  closely  to  the  dummy  file  name,  which 
is  only  6  characters  in  length.  Files  must 
begin  with  the  first  two  digits  "01"  and  the 
last  two  digits  "la"  through  "lz".  EXAMPLE: 
OlOOOlf  would  be  accepted,  but  020002a  would 
not.  A  close  examination  of  the  program  lines 
beginning, at  line  #410  will  be  helpful  to 
understand  the  composition  of  the  "account 
number"  requirements. 

Enter  several  new  accounts  and  input  dummy 
figures  for  sales  by  category.  Then  use  the 
main  menu  to  recall  these  accounts.  After  a 
bit  of  practice  the  organization  scheme  of  the 
accounts  will  become  familiar. 

Since  this  is  such  a  comprehensive  software 
and  does  so  many  functions,  there  will  be  a 
feed  back  to  answer  the  users  questions.  If 
you  should  have  problems,  send  your  questions 
to  Update  Magazine  and  they  will  be  forwarded 
to  Jim  Bretz  for  his  answers.  Please  include 
two  Stamped  envelopes,  one  a  SASE.  But  lets 
not  call  Jim  for  problem  answers  as  he  is  a 
business  man  who  goes  to  work  every  day  and 
needs  his  sleep. 

This  Business  software  is  available  as  an 
Issue  disk,  ready  to  use  for  LKDOS. 


21 


VARIABLES 

■ 

Am- - 

-Val   D$<X.Z»13  to  20) 

Amt- 

-Amount  total  Debit 

Bal  - 

-Amount  runing  Balance 

Crt- 

-Amount  total  Credit 

0  

—Input  for  description  menu 

Des- 

—Description    Vai  D$(x,z.ll  to  12) 

int- 

-Amount  total  Interest 

K  

-Length  of  S$ 

Ln- - 

—Line   pOSlSClOu,    rcu  &jdo7    \ orvon / 

Lb-- 

—Used  in  Lbi 

Lbl  - 

—Over  due  Balance 

P  

—For/Next  loop  counter 

Q  

-For/Next  loop  counter,  printer 

s  

-Used  to  Justify  R$  and  S$ 

T  

-Terms  flag 

-Gross  total  Balance. 

Tlbl 

-Gross  over  due  Balance 

Tmi- 

-Total  months  Interest  added 

Tint 

-Gross  total  Interest 

X— - 

-Account  number,  Val  X$<6  to  7> 

z  For/Next  loop  counter 


1  REM  Accounts  Rec.  T/S  2068  1986  Jim 

Bretz 

304  PRINT  CHR$  2 

305  PRINT  AT  l,o;X$'A$(X,l)'A$(X,2)'A$(X,3)'A$(X,4, 
1  TO  14);*  ';A$(X,5,1  TO  2);'.';A$(X,5,3  TO  7) 

307  IF  A$(X,1,1  TO  4)='  '  THEN  PRINT  'FILE  NOT 
FOUND':  PAUSE  o:  GO  TO  j5 

309  RANDOMIZE  USR  64300:  PRINT  CHR$  3 

310  PRINT  AT  l,48;'Sheet:';A$(x,5,12  TO  13);AT  2,49 
;'LSfflt:';A$(X,5,8  TO  9);  V';A$(X,5,10  TO  11);AT  3,49 
;"Date:';g$;AT  4,48; 'Terse: ';T$( VAL  A$(X,5,14)) 

320  PRINT  AT  7-(z=16),o;'No!  Date!  Slip  'Descriptio 
n  iCredit  "Interest!  Aaount  !  Balance  " 
349  RETURN 

352  LET  S=VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20) 

354  LET  k=9 

355  LET  r$=STR$  s:  LET  1*L£N  r$ 

360  IF  L<2  THEN  LET  R$="0'+R$:  LET  L=2 

365  DIM  s$(k):  LET  s$(k-2)=".':  LET  s$(k-l  TO  k)=r$ 

(1-1  TO  1):  LET  s$(  k-l+(  k=l )  TO  k-3)=r$(l  TO  1-2):  R 

ETURN 

400  REM  leagel  acct  sub 

410  INPUT  'ACCT.  N0.';Y$:  IF  LEN  Y$<>7  THEN  GO  TO 
502 

415  POKE  23658,0:  LET  x$=Y$:  LET  X*VAL  X$(6  TO  7): 
IF  x>20  THEN   60  TO  502 

420  IF  X${1  TO  2)<>C$(1  TO  2)  THEN  PRINT  'PLEASE  I 
NSERT  DISC  NO.  ';X$(1  TO  2)"AND  TRY  AGAIN.':  PAUSE 
0:  GO  TO  500 

425  IF  VAL  x$(3  TO  5)>48  THEN  GO  TO  502 

430  IF  X$(3  T0-5)OC$(3  TO  5)  THEN  GO  TO  450 

440  RETURN 

450  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  c$+'a.A$'  DATA  a$( ) 

452  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  c*+'d.A$'  OATA  d$( ) 

453  IF  Z$>'7'  THEN  RETURN 

454  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  X$(l  TO  5)+'a.A$"  DATA 
a$() 

456  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  XS(1  TO  5)+'d.A$'  DATA 
d*() 

458  LET  c$=x$( 1  TO  5) 
499  RETURN 

501  GO  TO  505 

502  BEEP  .1,1:  BEEP  1..1 

505  BEEP  .1,1:  BEEP  .1,5:  BEEP  .1,9 

510  aS  :  PRINT  'ACCTS  REC.  MAIN  MENU: ';AT  2,5; "1. 
ENTER  NEW  FILE', TAB  5; '2.  VIEW  FILE', TAB  5; '3.  POST 
SLIPS' JAB  5; '4.  COPY  TO  PAPER', TAB  5; '5.  REPORTS', T 


AB  5; '6.  NEW  HEADER/CLOSING', TAB  5; '7.  EDIT  LINE'JA 
B  5; '8.  CLOSE  FILE/END  DAY '.TAB  5;'9.  SAVE  DATA  (Bac 
k-Up)' 

520  INPUT  Z$:  IF  CODE  Z$>48  AND  CODE  Z$<58  THEN  :  C 
LS  :  GO  TO  VAL  Z$*1000 
530  60  TO  j6 

549  CLEAR  :  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  "AR1-9.81"  LINE 
9500 

1000  as  :  FLASH  1:  PRINT  AT  o ,9; "ENTER  NEW  FILE"": 
FLASH  o:  60  SUB  j4 
1010  LET  X=VAL  X$(6  TO  7) 
1020  IF  CODE  A$(X,1)<>32  THEN  60  TO  1900 
1025  INPUT  'ACCT.  NAME  ';A$(X,l):  PRINT  A$(X,1) 
1030  INPUT  "St.  ADDRESS" ;A$(X, 2):  PRINT  A$(X,2) 
1032  INPUT  'RR  or  B0X';A$(X,3):  PRINT  A$(X,3) 
1035  INPUT  'CITY';A$(X,4):  PRINT  A$(X,4) 
1040  INPUT  'STATE,  &  ZIP";A$(X,5,1  TO  7):  PRINT  A$(X 
,5,1  TO  7) 

i050  POKE  cap,8:  INPUT  ""IS  THIS  CORRECT  Y/N  ?:;Y$:  I 
F  Y$<>'Y'  THEN  as  :  PRINT  'ACCT  NO.  ";X:  POKE  cap, 
o:  GO  TO  1025 

1110  as  :  PRINT  "TERMS  MENU:":  PRINT  AT  2,5; "1.  ";T 
$(1)'TAB  5; "2.  ";T$(2)'TAB  5,"3.  ';T$(3)'TAB  5; '4.  " 
;T$(4)'TAB  5;"5.  ';T$(5) 

1120  INPUT  A$(X,5,14):  IF  CODE  A$(X,5,14)>48  AND  COD 

E  A$(X,5,14)<54  THEN  GO  TO  1130 

1125  BEEP  .1,1:  BEEP  l,.l:  GO  TO  1110 

1130  LET  A$(x,5,12  TO  13)* '01' 

1140  as  :  INPUT  'Date  of  LSnt.\A$(X,5,8  TO  11):  PR 

INT  'LSfflt:  ';;A$(x,5,8  TO  9); V';A$(x,5,10  TO  11):  L 

ET  D$(X,1,1  TO  4>A$(X,5,8  TO  11) 

1145  LET  D$(x,l,5  TO  10)='     00':  LET  D$(x,l,ll  TO  1 

2>'  1" 

1150  INPUT  'Enter  beginning  Balance';Y$:  LET  D$(x,l, 
13  TO  20)=Y$:  IF  LEN  Y$(l  THEN  GO  TO  1150 

1151  FOR  z=l  TO  LEN  Y$:  IF  CODE  Y$(z)>57  THEN  GO  TO 
1150 

1152  IF  CODE  v$(z)<48  THEN  GO  TO  1150 

1153  NEXT  z 

1155  INPUT  'Enter  OVER  DUE  Balance' ;y$:  LET  a$(x,5,l 
5  TO  21)=y$:  IF  LEN  y$U  THEN   GO  TO  1155 

1156  FOR  z=l  TO  LEN  y$:  IF  CODE  y$(z)>57  THEN  GO  TO 
1155 

1157  IF  CODE  y$(z)<48  THEN  60  TO  1155 

1158  NEXT  z 

1159  LET  Z=l:  60  SUB  jl:  LET  aat=s:  PRINT  'Balance  F 
or.  *;s$:  IF  s<=0  THEN  LET  D$(x,l,ll)='0':  60  TO  12 
50 

1160  IF  S>0  THEN  LET  D$(x,l,ll)="r:  INPUT  "Enter  b 
eginning  Interest" ;Y$:  LET  D$(x,l,5  TO  10)=Y$:  IF  LE 
N  y$<l  THEN   60  TO  1160 

1161  FOR  z*l  TO  LEN  y$:  IF  CODE  y$(z)>57  THEN  GO  TO 
1160 

1162  IF  CODE  y$(z)<48  THEN   60  TO  1160 

1163  NEXT  Z 

1164  LET  z=l:  LET  s=VAL  D$(x,l,5  TO  10):  LET  k=7:  GO 
SUB  j3:  PRINT  "Interest  charge' ;s$ 

1170  LET  s=s+ant:  GO  SUB  j2:  PRINT  'Total  Due:  $';S 
$ 

1250  PRINT  AT  21  ,o; 'Press  Any  Key  for  MENU" "Press  " 
"C"  to  Enter  a  new  Acct.':  POKE  cap.o 
1260  IF  INKEYS="  THEN  GO  TO  1260 
1265  IF  INKEY$*'c'  THEN  60  TO  1000 
1275  60  TO  j5 


2,2 


1900  PRINT  "THIS  ACCT  ";A$(X,1  )'"IS  IN  USE,"'"  DO 
YOU  WISH  TO  DELETE  ?  Y/N":  INPUT  Y$:  IF  Y$<>"Y"  TH 
EN   GO  TO  1270 

1904  PRINT  :  PRINT  "This  File  ?  ";A$(X,1);",(Y/N)" 
:  INPUT  Y$:  IF  Y$='Y"  THEN    LET  A$(X,1,1  TO  4)=" 

":  FOR  Z=l  TO  24:  LET  D$(X,Z)=":  NEXT  Z:  GO  TO 
505 

1906  GO  TO  j6 

2010  CLS  :  FLASH  1:  PRINT  AT  0,12; "VIEW  FILE":  FLA 
SH  o 

2015  GO  SUB  3015 

2505  POKE  cap, 8:  PAUSE  o=  IF  INKEY$="R"  THEN  LET 

Z=l:  CLS  :  GO  TO  3030 

2510  GO  TO  2000 

2950  PAUSE  o:  GO  TO  2000 

3010  CLS  :  FLASH  1:  PRINT  AT  o, 10; "POST  SLIPS":  FL 
ASH  o 

3015  LET  Z=l 
3020  GO  SUB  j4 
3030  GO  SUB  jO 

3045  POKE  cap ,8:  INPUT  "Correcrt  File  Y/N";Y$ 

3048  IF  Y$="Y"  THEN   GO  TO  3050 

3049  GO  TO  j6 

3110  PRINT  AT  8,z;z;TAB  3;D$(x,z,z  TO  2);"/";D$(x, 

z,3  TO  4); TAB  16; "Balance  For."; 

3120  IF  VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20)<0  THEN   GO  SUB  jl:  PR 

INT  AT  8,27;S$;TAB  55;S$:  LET  amt=0:  LET  bal=s:  LE 

T  crt=ABS  s:  LET  int=0:  LET  in=int:  GO  TO  3200 

3130  LET  S=VAL  D$(x,z,5  TO  10):  LET  k=7:  GO  SUB  j3 

:  PRINT  AT  8,38;s$:  LET  int-s:  LET  in=int 

3134  GO  SUB  jl:  PRINT  AT  8,45;s$;TAB  55;s$:  LET  am 

t=s:  LET  bal=s:  LET  crt=0 

3202  FOR  z=2  TO  24 

3205  IF  z»16  THEN  INPUT  "scroll?" ;Y$:  PRINT  AT  o, 
o;:  FOR  h=l  TO  10:  RANDOMIZE  USR  2361:  NEXT  h:  FOR 
h=l  TO  7:  PRINT  * 

":  NEXT  h:  GO  SUB 

jO:  PRINT  AT  ln-9,o; 

3210  IF  D$(x,Z,l)="  "  THEN   GO  TO  3300 

3215  LET  des=VAL  D$(x,z,ll  TO  12) 

3220  PRINT  TAB  l-(z>9);z;TAB  3;0$(x,z,l  TO  2);"/"; 

D$(x,z,3  TO  4);TAB  9;D$(x,z,5  TO  10);TAB  16;I$(des 

); :  LET  ln=24-PEEK  23689 

3225  IF  des<8  THEN  GO  SUB  jl:  PRINT  TAB  45;s$;:  L 
ET  amt=amt+s:  LET  bal=bal+s:  LET  s=bal:  GO  SUB  j2: 

PRINT  TAB  55;s$:  NEXT  z:  GO  TO  3400 
3230  IF  desUO  THEN  LET  am=VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20): 
GO  SUB  jl:  PRINT  AT  ln,27;s$;:  LET  s=in:  LET  k=7: 
GO  SUB  j3:  PRINT  TAB  38;s$;:  LET  s=(am-s )*(am-s>=0 
)■'  LET  in=(in-am)*(in-am)=0):  GO  SUB  j2:  PRINT  AT 
ln,45;s$;:  LET  s=bal-s:  GO  SUB  j3:  PRINT  TAB  55;s$ 
;:  LET  bal=s:  LET  crt=crt+am:  NEXT  z:  GO  TO  3400 
3250  GO  SUB  jl:  PRINT  TAB  36;s$;:  LET  in=in+s:  LET 

int=int+s:  LET  s=bal:  GO  SUB  j2:  PRINT  TAB  55;s$; 
:  NEXT  z:  GO  TO  3400 

3300  IF  z$="2"  THEN   GO  TO  3400 

3301  INPUT  "Enter  Slip  No.";D$(X,Z,5  TO  10):  IF  D$ 
(X,Z,5  TO  10)="         "  THEN   GO  TO  3400 

3308  LET  D$(X,Z,1  TO  4  )=B$ 

3310  ON  ERR  GO  TO  3310:  INPUT  "  Enter  Sale  Code" 
"(press  ""0""  for  Help)";D 

3312  FOR  y=l  TO  10  STEP  2 

3313  IF  (D<=10)*(D>0)=1  THEN  LET  D$(X,Z,11  TO  12) 
=STR$  D:  ON  ERR    RESET  :  GO  TO  3320 

3316  INPUT  ;(y);".";(I$(y)),(y+l);".";(I$(y+l));D 

3317  NEXT  y:  GO  TO  3310 

3320  INPUT  "Enter  $  Amount" ;Y$:  LET  D$(X,Z,13  TO  2 
0)=Y$ 


3330  IF  (LEN  Y$>1)*(LEN  Y$<9)=0  THEN    GO  TO  3320 
3335  FOR  y=l  TO  LEN  Y$ 

3340  IF  (CODE  Y$(y)<58)*(C0DE  Y$(y))44)=0  THEN  GO 
TO  3320 
3345  NEXT  y:  GO  TO  3215 

3410  PRINT  'TAB  18; "Totals" ; :  LET  ln=24-PEEK  23689 

3415  LET  s=crt:  GO  SUB  j3:  PRINT  TAB  27;s$; 
3420  LET  s=int:  GO  SUB  j3:  PRINT  AT  ln,36;s$; 
3425  LET  s=amt:  GO  SUB  j3:  PRINT  AT  ln,45;s$; 
3430  LET  s=crt-int:  LET  s=amt-s:  GO  SUB  j3:  PRINT 
TAB  55;s$; 

3440  LET  D$(x,l,ll)="l":  IF  bal<=0  THEN  LET  D$(x, 
1,11  )="0" 

3450  IF  z>24  THEN   FLASH  1:  PRINT  "FULL  PAGE,  PLEA 

SE   COPY   TO  PAPER   AND   CLEAR  WORK  SHEET":  FLASH 

0:  PAUSE  o:  GO  TO  j5 

3500  IF  z$="2"  THEN   GO  TO  2500 

3950  PAUSE  o:  GO  TO  3000 

4004  GO  TO  4500 

4005  LET  Z=l 
4010  GO  SUB  j4 

4015  IF  1$=*2"  THEN  :  IF  (D$(x,l,ll)="0")+(a$(x,5, 
14)='5')>0  THEN  RETURN 

4016  IF  A$(x,l,l  TO  4)="       "  THEN  RETURN 

4020  LPRINT  ' » 

4021  LPRINT  h$(l) 

4022  LPRINT  h$(2) 

4023  LPRINT  h$(3) 

4024  LPRINT  h$(4) 

4025  LPRINT 

4030  LET  ch=93:  LPRINT  """TAB  10;X$'TAB  10;A$(X 
,1)'TAB  10;A$(X,2)'TAB  10;A$(X,3)'TAB  10;A$(X,4,1 
TO  14);",  ";A$(X,5,1  TO  2);V;A$(X,5,3  TO  7)"" 
4035  LPRINT  "Sheet:";A$(x,5,12  TO  13 ) , aLSnt : " ; A$( X 
,5,8  TO  9);"/";A$(X,5,10  TO  ll),"Date:";B$(l  TO  2) 
;"/";B$(3  TO  4);7";B$(5  TO  6),*Terms:";T$(VAL  A$( 
X,5,14)) 

4040  FOR  y=0  TO  66:  LPRINT  "_";:  NEXT  y:  LPRINT 
4045  LPRINT  CHR$  91; "No.*  Date*  Slip  *Description 
*Credit  *Interest*  Amount  *  Balance  ";CHR$  ch 
4050  REM 

4102  IF  A$(x,5,15  TO  21)="  '  THEN   LET  A$(x, 

5,15)="0" 

4104  LET  lbl=VAL  A$(x,5,15  TO  21) 

4105  LET  Z=l:  LPRINT  CHR$  91;"  1"; 

4110  LPRINT  TAB  5;D$(x,z,z  TO  2);"/";D$(x,z,3  TO  4 
);TAB  18; "Balance  For."; 

4120  IF  VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20)<0  THEN  GO  SUB  jl:  LP 
RINT  TAB  29;$$; TAB  57;S$;CHR$  93:  LET  amt=0:  LET  b 
al=s:  LET  crt=ABS  s:  LET  int=0:  LET  in=int:  GO  TO 
4200 

4130  LET  s=VAL  D$(x,z,5  TO  10):  LET  k=7:  GO  SUB  j3 
:  LPRINT  TAB  40;s$;:  LET  int=s:  LET  in=int 
4134  LET  k=9:  GO  SUB  jl:  LPRINT  TAB  47;s$;TAB  57 ;s 
$;CHR$  93:  LET  amt=s:  LET  bal=s:  LET  crt=0 
4202  FOR  z=2  TO  24 

4204  LET  f$=STR$  (VAL  b$(l  TO  2)+(VAL  d$(x,z-l,l  T 
0  2)>VAL  b$(l  TO  2))*12) 

4206  IF  VAL  f$-VAL  d$(x,z-l,l  TO  2)>=VAL  a$(x,5,14 
)  THEN  LET  lbl=bal:  LET  a$(x,5,15  TO  21)=STR$  Ibl 

4210  IF  D$( x ,Z,1  )="  *  THEN    GO  TO  4400 
4215  LET  des=VAL  D$(x,z,ll  TO  12) 
4220  LPRINT  CHR$  91;TAB  2-( z>9 );z;TAB  5;D$(x,z,l  T 
0  2);V;D$(x,Z,3  TO  4);TAB  ll;D$(x,z,5  TO  10);TAB 
18;l$(des); 

!,3 


4225  IF  des<8  THEN  SO  SUB  jl:  LPRINT  TAB  47;s$;:  LE 
T  amt=arat+s:  LET  bal=bal+s:  LET  s=bal:  GO  SUB  j2:  LP 
RINT  TAB  57;s$;CHR$  ch:  GO  SUB  4960:  NEXT  z:  GO  TO  4 
400 

4230  IF  des<10  THEN  LET  am=VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20):  GO 
SUB  jl:  LPRINT  TAB  29;s$;:  LET  s=in:  LET  k=7:  GO  SU 

B  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  40;s$;:  LET  s=(am-s)*(am-s>=0):  LET 
in=(in-am)*(in-am>=0):  GO  SUB  j2:  LPRINT  TAB  47;s$; 

:  LET  s=bal-s:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  57;s$;CHR$  ch: 

LET  bal=s:  LET  crt=crt+am:  GO  SUB  4950:  NEXT  z:  GO  T 

0  4400 

4250  GO  SUB  jl:  LPRINT  TAB  38;s$;:  LET  in=in+s:  LET 

int=int+s:  LET  s=bal:  GO  SUB  j2:  LPRINT  TAB  57;s$;CH 

R$  ch:  GO  SUB  4960:  NEXT  z 

4410  LPRINT  'TAB  20; "Totals'; 

4415  LET  s=crt:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  29;s$; 

4420  LET  s=int:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  38;s$; 

4425  LET  s=amt:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  47;s$; 

4430  LET  s=crt-int:  LET  s=amt-s:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  T 

AB  57;s$ 

4432  IF  lbl<0  THEN  LET  lbl=0 

4433  LET  s=lbl:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  'OVER  DUE  Balance 
of  ';s$ 

4434  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  POKE  16090,63:  LPRINT  »V$": 
RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  POKE  16090,79 

4436  IF  VAL  1$<3  THEN  LET  A$(x,5,8  TO  11)=B$ 
4438  FOR  m=(z+31)  TO  64:  LPRINT  :  NEXT  n 
4460  RETURN 

4500  REM 

4501  POKE  cap.o:  CLS  :  FLASH  1:  PRINT  AT  0,9; "LPRINT 
FILE*:  FLASH  o 

4505  LET  lbl*0 

4510  PRINT  AT  3  ,o; 'OPTIONS:  ""1.  Print  (1)  stateien 
t     '"2.  Print  Block  of  statements '"3.  Print  (1)  F 
ile  Copy ""4.   COPY  and  CLEAR  Page* 
4520  INPUT  'Enter  Option' ;1$:  IF  LEN  ISOI  THEN  GO 
TO  j5 

4525  IF  (CODE  1$>48)*(C0DE  1$<53)<>1  THEN  GO  TO  452 
0 

4530  PRINT  '"Option  Selected  No.";l$ 

4540  IF  1$*V  THEN  GO  SUB  4005:  GO  TO  4500 

4545  IF  l$-'2"  THEN  GO  TO  4600 

4550  IF  1$='3'  THEN  LPRINT  """':  GO  SUB  j4:  GO  S 

UB  4030:  GO  TO  4500 

4555  IF  1$='4'  THEN   LPRINT  ' :  GO  SUB  j4:  GO  SU 

8  4030:  PRINT  "New  Paper  Please':  PAUSE  o:  GO  SUB  4 
018:  FOR  z=l  TO  24:  LET  D$(x,z)=":  NEXT  z:  LET  0$(x 
,1,1  TO  4)=B$(1  TO- 4):  LET  D$(x,l,5  TO  10)=STR$  in: 
LET  D$(x,l,13  TO  20)=STR$  bal:  LET  A$(x,5,12  TO  13)= 
STR$  (VAL  A$(x,5,12  TO  13)+1) 

4556  LET  a$(x,5,15  TO  21)=STR$  lbl 
4558  LPRINT 

4560  GO  TO  4500 

4610  INPUT  'Starting  Acct.  No.';X$:  IF  LEN  X$<>7  THE 
N   GO  TO  j6 
4620  GO  SUB  420 

4625  FOR  x=l  TO  20:  LET  x$(6  TO  7)="0"+STR$  x:  IF  x> 

9  THEN   LET  x$(6  TO  7)=STR$  x 

4630  GO  SUB  4015:  LET  A$(x,5,15  TO  2l)=STR$  lbl:  NEX 
T  x:  PRINT  'Block  No.";x$(l  TO  5);'  Complete":  PAUSE 
o:  GO  TO  4500 
4950  LET  lbl=lbl-ara 

4960  LET  lb=2-(a$(x,5,14)="l'):  LET  lb=VAL  B$(l  TO  2 
)-lb:  IF  lb>=VAL  D$(x,z,l  TO  2)  THEN  LET  lbl*bal:  L 
ET  A$(x,5,15  TO  21)=STM  lbl 


4961  RETURN 
5000  GO  TO  5500 

5016  LET  int=0:  LET  bal=0:  LET  lbl=0:  LET  z=l 

5019  IF  (l$='l")*(n$='n")*(d$(x,l,ll)='0")=l  THEN  R 
ETURN 

5020  IF  A$(x,l,l  TO  4)='      "  THEN  RETURN 
5030  LET  lbl=VAL  A$(x,5,15  TO  21) 

5120  IF  VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20)<0  THEN  LET  s=VAL  D$(x, 
z,  13  TO  20):  LET  amt=0:  LET  bal=s:  LET  crt=s:  LET  in 
t=0:  LET  in=int:  GO  TO  5200 

5130  LET  s=VAL  D$(x,z,5  TO  10):  LET  int=s:  LET  in=in 
t 

5134  LET  s=VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20):  LET  amt=s:  LET  bal= 

s:  LET  crt=0 

5202  FOR  z=2  TO  24 

5204  LET  f$=STR$  (VAL  b$(l  TO  2)+(VAL  d$(x,z-l,l  TO 
2)>VAL  b$(l  TO  2))*12) 

5206  IF  VAL  f$-VAL  d$(x,z-l,l  TO  2)>=VAL  a$(x,5,14) 

THEN  LET  lbl=bal :  LET  a$(x,5,15  TO  21)=STR$  lbl 

5210  IF  D$(x,z,l)="  '  THEN   GO  TO  5400 

5215  LET  des=VAL  D$(x,z,U  TO  12) 

5225  IF  des(8  THEN  LET  s=VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20):  LET 

ant=amt+s:  LET  bal=bal+s:  LET  s=bal:  GO  SUB  5960:  NE 

XT  z:  GO  TO  5400 

5230  IF  des<10  THEN  LET  ara=VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20):  LE 
T  s=in:  LET  s=(am-s)*(am-s>=0):  LET  in=(in-ara)*(in-a 
a>=0):  LET  s=bal-s:  LET  bal=s:  LET  crt=crt+am:  GO  SU 
8  5950:  NEXT  z:  GO  TO  5400 

5250  GO  SUB  jl:  LET  int=int+s:  GO  SUB  5960:  NEXT  z 

5405  IF  1$="2"  THEN   GO  TO  5735 

5410  LPRINT  x$;'  ";a$(x,l); 

5415  LET  s=crt:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  30;s$; 

5420  LET  s=int:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  40;s$; 

5425  LET  s=amt:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  50;s$; 

5430  LET  s=crt-int:  LET  s=amt-s:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  T 

AB  60;s$; 

5432  IF  lbKO  THEN  LET  lbl=0 

5433  LET  s-lbl:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  70;s$ 
5460  RETURN 

5501  LET  K=9:  POKE  cap,o:  CLS  :  FLASH  1:  PRINT  AT  o, 
12; 'REPORTS':  FLASH  o 

5510  PRINT  AT  3, o; 'OPTIONS: " "1.  LPRINT  Summery"" 
2.';'Interest  Calc?" 

5520  INPUT  'Enter  Option" ;1$:  IF  LEN  1$ 01  THEN  GO 
TO  j5 

5525  IF  (CODE  1$>48)*(C0DE  1$<53)<>1  THEN  GO  TO  552 
0 

5530  PRINT  ""Option  Selected  No.';l$ 

5540  IF  1$*T  THEN   INPUT  "Print  $.00  Balance  Accts 

.(Y/N)';n$:  GO  TO  5600 

5550  IF  1$='2'  THEN  GO  TO  5700 

5601  LET  Tint=0:  LET  Tbal=0:  LET  Tlbl=0 

5605  LPRINT  'Summery  of  Accounts" , "Date:  ";g$":  LPRI 
NT  TAB  2;'No.';TAB  17;'NAME'; 

5606  IF  1$='2'  THEN  LPRINT  TAB  34; "Line",:  GO  TO  56 
08 

5607  LPRINT  TAB  33; 'CREDIT'; 

5608  LPRINT  TAB  41; "INTEREST"; TAB  53; "AMOUNT"; TAB  62 
; "BALANCE"; TAB  71; "OVER  DUE":  FOR  y=0  TO  79:  LPRINT 
'-';:  NEXT  y:  LPRINT 

5610  INPUT  "Starting  Acct.  No.";X$:  IF  LEN  X$<)7  THE 
N  GO  TO  j6 

5615  GO  SUB  420:  PRINT  "Summery  of  Accounts:  "x$;" 
TO  "; 

2,4 


5620  INPUT  "Ending  Acct.  No.";P$:  IF  LEN  P$<)7  THE 
N    GO  TO  j6 

5621  PRINT  P$:  FOR  p=VAL  X$(4  TO  5)  TO  VAL  P$(4  TO 
5):  LET  x$(4  TO  5)="0"+STR$  p:  IF  p>9  THEN   LET  X 

$(4  TO  5)=STR$  p 
5623  60  SUB  420 

5625  FOR  x=l  TO  20:  LET  x$(6  TO  7)="0"+STR$  x:  IF 
x>9  THEN   LET  x$(6  TO  7)=STR$  x 
5630  GO  SUB  5015 

5635  LET  Tint=Tint+int:  LET  Tbal=Tbal+bal:  LET  Tib 
l=Tlbl+lbl 

5640  IF  INKEY$="  STOP  "  THEN    GO  TO  5690 

5650  NEXT  x=  NEXT  p 

5660  LPRINT  'TAB  17; 'TOTALS"; 

5670  IF  1$="2"  THEN   GO  TO  5800 

5692  LET  s=Tint:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  40;s$; 

5694  LET  s=Tbal:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  60;s$; 

5695  LET  s=Tlbl:  GO  SUB  j3  =  LPRINT  TAB  70;s$; 

5696  LPRINT 
5699  GO  TO  5500 

5705  LET  n$="n":  LET  TMI=0:  INPUT  "Enter  Annual  In 
terest  Rate";y$:  LET  irt=( VAL  y$/12)*.01 
5720  GO  TO  5600 

5735  IF  lbl<=0  THEN  LET  lbl=0:  LET  int=0:  LET  bal 
=0:  RETURN 

5736  IF  A$(x,5,14)="5"  THEN  LET  lbl=0:  LET  int=0: 
LET  bal=0:  RETURN 

5740  LPRINT  x$;*  ";a$(x,l );TAB  35;z; 
5745  LET  s=int:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  40;s$; 
5750  LET  s=INT  (lbl*irt):  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  50 
;s$;:  LET  TMI=TMI+INT  (lbl*irt) 
5755  LET  s=crt-int:  LET  s=amt-s:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT 
TAB  60;s$; 

5760  LET  s«lbl:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  70;s$ 
5770  LET  d$(x,z,l  TO  4)=b$:  LET  d$(x,z,U  TO  12)=" 
10":  LET  d$(x,z,13  TO  20)=STR$  INT  (lbl*irt) 
5780  RETURN 

5800  LET  S=TMI:  GO  SUB  j3:  LPRINT  TAB  50;s$ 
5810  LPRINT  "INTEREST  RATE  =  ";irt;"  per  Nth." 
5899  GO  TO  5500 
5950  LET  lbl=lbl-ara 

5960  LET  lb=2-(a$(x,5,14)='l"):  LET  lb=VAL  B$(l  TO 
2)-lb:  IF  lb>=VAL  D$(x,z,l  TO  2)  THEN  LET  lbl=ba 

1:  LET  A$(x,5,15  TO  )=STR$  lbl 

5961  RETURN 

6000  CLS  :  FLASH  1:  PRINT  AT  o, 8; "STATEMENT  HEADER 
"":  FLASH  o 

6005  PRINT  ""1.  Enter  HEADER" "2.  Enter  CLOSING" 
'""OPTION  ?":  PAUSE  o 

6010  IF  INKEY$="2"  THEN   GO  TO  6500 

6011  IF  INKEY$="1*  THEN   GO  TO  6050 

6012  IF  INKEY$=""  THEN   GO  TO  j5 

6013  GO  TO  6010 

6050  PRINT  "Enter  Statement  Header"":  INPUT  VLOA 
D  From  Tape?  (y/n)";y$:  IF  y$=*y"  THEN  LOAD  'head 
er"  DATA  h$( ) 

6065  FOR  z=l  TO  4:  INPUT  "Header  Line  ";STR$  z;h$( 
z):  PRINT  h$(z):  NEXT  z 

6085  POKE  cap,o:  INPUT  "  SAVE    TO  Tape?  (y/n)";y$: 
IF  y$="y"  THEN   SAVE  "header"  DATA  h$(  ) 
6099  PAUSE  o:  GO  TO  j5 

6510  PRINT  "Enter  new  Statment  closing  lines" 
6520  INPUT  V$ 

6530  PRINT  "NEW  Statement  Closing":  RANDOMIZE  US 
R  64300:  PRINT  CHR$  3:  PRINT  V$:  PRINT  CHR$  2 
6540  PAUSE  o:  GO  TO  j5 


7002  CLS  :  PRINT  "Edit  File  Menu: ";TAB  5;"1.  Chan 
ge  Name/Address"; TAB  5; "2.  Change  Line  Entry" 
7004  IF  INKEY$="1"  THEN   GO  TO  7500 
7006  IF  INKEY$="2"  THEN   GO  TO  7010 
7008  GO  TO  7004 

7010  CLS  :  PRINT  AT  o,26;"  Edit  File  " 
7020  GO  SUB  j4 
7030  GO  SUB  jO 

7045  POKE  cap, 8:  INPUT  "Correcrt  File  Y/N";Y$ 

7048  IF  Y$="Y"  THEN   GO  TO  7050 

7049  GO  TO  j6 

7050  ON  ERR  GO  TO  j6:  INPUT  "enter  Line  No.  to  be 
changed  ";z:  ON  ERR  RESET  :  IF  z>24  THEN  GO  TO 

J6 

7055  IF  z<2  THEN   GO  TO  502 
7100  LET  edit=0 

7205  PRINT  ""Current  Line  No/; 

7210  IF  D$(x,z,l)="  "  THEN   GO  TO  j6 

7215  LET  des=VAL  D$(x,z,ll  TO  12) 

7220  PRINT  TAB  l-(z>9);z;TA8  3;D$(x,z,l  TO  2);"/"; 

D$(x,z,3  TO  4);TAB  9;D$(x,z,5  TO  10);TAB  16;I$(des 

);:  LET  ln=24-PEEK  23689 

7225  IF  des(8  THEN  GO  SUB  jl:  PRINT  TAB  45;s$;:  G 
0  TO  7260 

7230  IF  des<10  THEN   LET  am=VAL  D$(x,z,13  TO  20): 
GO  SUB  jl:  PRINT  AT  ln,27;s$;:  GO  TO  7260 
7250  LET  k=7:  GO  SUB  jl:  PRINT  TAB  36;s$; 
7260  IF  edit=l  THEN   GO  TO  7400 
7265  LET  edit=l 

7275  PRINT  ""Enter  New  Line  No."; 

7301  INPUT  "Enter  Date  of  slip  ";e$:  IF  e$<>""  THE 

N  :  LET  D$(x,z,l  TO  4)=e$ 

7305  INPUT  "Enter  Slip  No.";e$:  IF  e$<)""  THEN  :  L 
ET  D$(X,Z,5  TO  10)=e$ 

7310  INPUT  ■  Enter  Sale  Code" "(press  "0""  for  He 
lp)";e$:  IF  e$=""  THEN  GO  TO  7320 

7311  ON  ERR  GO  TO  7310:  LET  D=VAL  e$:  ON  ERR  RES 
ET 

7312  FOR  y=l  TO  10  STEP  2 

7313  IF  (D<=10)*(D>0)=1  THEN  LET  D$(X,Z,11  TO  12) 
=STR$  D:  ON  ERR  RESET  :  GO  TO  7320 

7316  INPUT  ;(y);".";(l$(y)),(y+l);".";(l$(y+i));D 

7317  NEXT  y:  GO  TO  7310 

7320  INPUT  "Enter  $  Amount" ;Y$:  IF  Y$=""  THEN  GO 
TO  7215 

7325  LET  D$(x,z,13  TO  20)=Y$ 

7330  IF  (LEN  Y$>1)*(LEN  Y$<9)=0  THEN   GO  TO  7320 

7335  FOR  y=l  TO  LEN  Y$ 

7340  IF  (CODE  Y$(y)<58)*(C0DE  Y$(y)>44)=0  THEN  GO 
TO  7320 

7345  NEXT  y:  GO  TO  7215 

7400  PAUSE  o:  GO  TO  j5 

7510  CLS  :  PRINT  AT  o,10;'  Edit  Name  " 

7520  GO  SUB  j4 

7530  GO  SUB  jO 

7540  POKE  cap  ,8:  INPUT  "Correct  File  Y/N  ";Y$ 
7550  IF  Y$<)"Y"  THEN   GO  TO  j6 
7560  LET  X=VAL  X$(6  TO  7) 

7625  INPUT  "ACCT.  NAME  ";e$:  IF  e$<) ""  THEN  LET  A 
$(X,l)=e$ 

7626  PRINT  A$(X,1) 

7630  INPUT  "St.  ADDRESS ";e$:  IF  e$<>""  THEN  LET  A 
$(X,2)=e$ 

7631  PRINT  A$(X,2) 

7632  INPUT  'RR  or  BOX";e$:  IF  e$<> "*  THEN   LET  A$( 
X,3)=e$ 


7632  INPUT  "RR  or  B0X';e$:  IF  ef<>"  THEN  LET  A$(X, 
3)=e$ 

7633  PRINT  A$(X,3) 

7635  INPUT  'CITY";e$:  IF  e$<>""  THEN  LET  A$(X,4)=e$ 

7636  PRINT  A$(X,4) 

7640  INPUT  'STATE,  &  ZIP';e$:  IF  e$<>""  THEN  LET  A$ 
(X,5,l  TO  8)=e$ 

7641  PRINT  A$(X,5,1  TO  8) 

7650  POKE  cap,8:  INPUT  'IS  THIS  CORRECT  Y/N  ?';Y$:  I 
F  Y$='N"  THEN  CLS  :  PRINT  'ACCT  NO.  ';X:  POKE  cap.o 
:  GO  TO  7610 

7660  INPUT  'Change  TERMS  Y/N  ?  ';y$:  IF  y$0'Y'  THEN 
60  TO  7800 

7710  aS  :  PRINT  "TERMS  MENU:':  PRINT  AT  2,5;'  1.  ";T 
$(1)*TAB  5;'2.  ";T$(2)'TAB  5;'3.  ';T$(3)*TAB  5;'4.  ' 
;T$(4)'TAB  5; '5.  ";T$(5) 

7720  INPUT  A$(X,5,14):  IF  COOE  A$(X,5,14)>48  AND  COD 
E  A$(X,5,14)<54  THEN  GO  TO  7730 
7725  BEEP  .1,1:  BEEP  1..1:  GO  TO  7710 
7810  GO  TO  j5 

8000  REM  close  The 
8010  GO  SUB  450 

8050  CLEAR  :  RESTORE  :  RESET  :  GO  TO  9500 
9000  REM  save  data 
9005  GO  SUB  450 

9010  CLS  :  FLASH  1:  PRINT  AT  0,10;'  SAVE  DATA  ':  FLA 
SH  0 

9015  PRINT  '"Please  have  formated  DISK  Ready' 
9020  PRINT  "Place  SOURCE  disk  in  DRIVE  2'"  DES 
TINATION  disk  in  DRIVE  1'" "Press  ENTER  when  READY' 
:  PAUSE  0 

9100  FOR  Z=l  TO  48 

9110  LET  c$*'0100'+STR$  z:  IF  z>9  THEN  LET  c$*"010" 
+STR$  z 

9120  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  GO  TO  1 

9125  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  c$+'a.A$'  DATA  a$( ) 

9126  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  c$+"d.A$"  DATA  d$( ) 
9130  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  GO  TO  0 

9135  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  c$+'a.A$'  DATA  a$( ) 

9136  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  c$+'d.A$"  DATA  d$( ) 
9140  NEXT  z 

9150  GO  TO  j5 

9500  REM 

9501  DIM  I$(10,ll):  FOR  Z=l  TO  10:  READ  a$:  LET  I$(Z 
>a$:  NEXT  Z 

9502  DATA  'Merchandise' , 'Plumb/Heat' , 'Photo  Fin. ' , 'A 
ppliance" , 'Furniture' ,  "Labor ' , 'ServiceCall ' , 'Credit" 
,'Rec.on  Acct", "Interest* 

9503  DATA  'NET  30', 'NET  60', 'NET  90", 'NET  120' , 'NONE 

9504  DIM  T$(5,8):  FOR  Z*l  TO  5:  READ  a$:  LET  T$(Z)=a 
$:  NEXT  z 

9515  LET  x=20:  LET  CAP=23658:  LET  j0=300:  LET  jl=350 
:  LET  j2=354:  LET  j3=355:  LET  j4=400:  LET  j5»500:  LE 
T  j6*502:  LET  o=0 

9520  DIM  A$(X,5,21):  DIM  0$(X,24,20) 
9525  DIM  h$(4,80) 

9530  INPUT  'TODAYS  DATE  ?  M/0/Y';8$ 
9535  IF  LEN  b$<>6  THEN   GO  TO  9530 
9540  LET  g$=b$(l  TO  2)+7"*b$(3  TO  4)+7"*b$(5  TO  6) 

9550  LET  C$= "01001" 
9552  DIM  V$(192) 
9555  LET  E$='  ' 


9558  REM 

9560  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  "01001a.A$"  DATA  a$( ) 
9565  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  "OlOOld.AS"  DATA  d$( ) 
9575  GO  TO  j5 

9599  STOP 

9600  PRINT  '  STOP  this  will  erase  all  files":  PAUSE 
0 

9610  DIM  A$(20,5,21):  DIM  D$(20,24,20) 

9620  FOR  x=l  TO  48 

9625  LET  x$='0100'+STR$  x 

9628  IF  x>9  THEN   LET  x$="010'+STR$  x 

9630  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  x$+'a.A$"  DATA  a$( ) 

9635  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  x$+"d.A$"  DATA  d$( ) 

9640  NEXT  x 

9650  STOP 


LKDOS  Auto  Load  Program 


To  Auto  SAVE,  type:  GO  TO  60., Then  touch  "d". 

5  CLEAR  VAL  "63222" 
10  REM  LKdos  AR  loader 

20  PAPER  NOT  PI:  BORDER  NOT  PI:  INK  VAL  "7":  CLS 

22  LET  ml=VAL  '100':  PRINT  AT  VAL  "9", NOT  PI ; 'Does 
Printer  need  Line  Feed?  <1>  Yes  <2>  No":  PAUSE  N 
OT  Pi:  LET  z*NOT  (CODE  INKEY$-VAL  "49"):  RANDOMIZE  U 
SR  ml:  OPEN  #VAL  "3","lp":  RANDOMIZE  USR  ml:  POKE  VA 
L  '16096', NOT  PI:  RANDOMIZE  USR  ml:  POKE  VAL  '16092' 
,(z*VAL  '10'):  CLS  :  INPUT  "Enter  Printer's  Max  Line 
length  ';z:  RANDOMIZE  USR  ml:  POKE  16090, z:  INPUT  ' 
Enter  Left  Margin" ;z:  RANDOMIZE  USR  ml:  POKE  VAL  "16 
094',(z-VAL  '1"  AND  z>NOT  PI M VAL  '0'  AND  z(NOT  NOT 
PI):  PRINT  AT  VAL  '8', NOT  PI; 'Turn  Printer  ON,  ENTE 
R':  PAUSE  NOT  PI:  CLS  :  LPRINT 

30  RANDOMIZE  USR  ml:  LOAD  'taswid.Cl'CODE 

40  RANDOMIZE  USR  VAL  '64300' 

50  RANDOMIZE  USR  ml:  LOAD  'AR1-9.B1' 

60  LET  Z=VAL  "65367"-  FREE  +VAL  "300":  POKE  VAL  "2 
3731\z/VAL  '256':  POKE  VAL  ' 23730 ",z-( INT  z/VAL  '25 
6")*VAL  "256":  RANDOMIZE  USR  VAL  "102":  GO  TO  5 


NOTES: 

1 .  Whan,  the.  matin  pxjognam  Z6  keyed  in, 
SAVE  AJt   (tilth  a.  title.  o4  "AR1-9.81: 

2.  T%U>  4o4twaA&.  Jt&Qul*&6  a.  64  caiwm 
diAptay  44JU,.  You,  wJtt  need  zith&i  the, 
ZebxiL  OS-64  coAtxAdge,  ox.  the,  TASUZ  code. 
<L6  AuppLLed  In  the,  TASUJI  coquette. 
Either  o4  theAA.  ujoxh,  ufith  zWxeA.  SPVOS  on, 
LKDOS,  bat  to  UL6e.  the,  OS-64  utith  LKDOS 
the.  modification,  given,  in  the,  LKDOS 
rmnual  (to  Mach  an  EPRQM)  i*  nexqjLlxed. 


***t*t**4M***m«****t***«*****«*t**********4 

*  OTHER  OSES  POR  THE  T/S  2168  LARREN  RAHDISR  * 
*t*titi*i*ittttt*ttt*tt*i*tttti*t*ttttittttttt 

LARRY  CRAHPORD  357  REYNOLDS  RD 
LONDON  ONT  CANADA  N6K  2P8 

BACKGROUND 

The  LARREN  RAMDISK  banks  are  all  napped  into  the 
DOCK  bank  of  the  2168  even  though  the  board  is 
plugged  into  the  back  expansion  slot. 
Consequently,  it  is  possible  to  load  any  of  the 
RAMDISK  banks  with  data  for  a  database  or 
spreadsheet.  This  means  that  up  to  256K  more 
information  can  be  handled  and  increases  the 
usefulness  of  the  "old  workhorse"  dramatically. 
It  is  also  possible  to  load  a  DOCK  bank  with  code 
which  simulates  a  BASIC  cartridge  (AROS)  and  to 
run  that  code  as  a  BASIC  or  m/c  program.  This  is 
what  cartridges  do. 

LARREN  BANK  SWITCHING 

Pirst  of  all,  the  2068's  RAM  is  organised  into  8 
chunks  of  8K  each.  Normally,  with  Display  Pile  1 
in  use,  the  bottom  two  contain  ROM  and  the  next 
one  the  system  variables  and  ROM  routines  which 
are  moved  to  RAH  on  power-up.  These  3  chunks 
should  not  be  disturbed. 

The  LARREN  RAMDISR  board  uses  the  top  4  chunks  (4 
to  7)  to  make  up  a  bank.  A  bank  is  made  active  by 
switching  off  the  HOME  RAH  chunks  4  to  7  and 
turning  on  one  of  the  RAMDISK  banks.  The  active 
bank  is  actually  treated  as  a  DOCK  bank.  Thus  the 
RAHDISR  board  holds  up  to  8  DOCK  banks  which  can 
be  selected  from  the  keyboard. 

HOW? 

Which  chunks  are  active  in  HOME  and  which  active 
in  DOCK  is  controlled  by  the  Horizontal  Select 
Register  (HSR)  located  in  PORT  244  (P4  hex).  The 
individual  bits  which  make  up  the  byte  in  the  port 
determine  in  which  bank  the  corresponding  chunk 
will  be  active.  A  xero  bit  means. the  chunk  is  in 
HOHE.  Since  we  want  to  use  the  top  4  chunks  in 
DOCK,  we  will  load  the  HSR  with  llUMff  binary 
(244  decimal).  Thus  <OUT  244,240>  activates  the 
DOCK  bank. 

WHICH  DOCK  BANK? 

LARKEN  uses  PORT  7  to  select  the  one-  to  be 
activated.  The  second  page  of  the  LARKEN  RAMDISK 
notes  gives  the  code  numbers  corresponding  to  the 
banks:  Bank  ABCDEPGH 

Code  7  3  5  16  2  4  1 
Thus  <OUT  7,7>  will  select  bank  A.  Purther,  LARREN 
uses  bit  6  of  PORT  7  to  control  the  WRITE- PROTECT 


circuitry  of  the  RAHDISK  board.  A  xero  in  bit  6 
puts  the  bank  in  the  READ-only  mode.  To  be  able  to 
load  data  into  the  bank,  we  must  add  1100090 
binary  (64  decimal)  to  the  bank  code  number. 
Therefore,  <OUT  244,240:  OUT  7,71>  will  permit  us 
to  put  data  into  DOCK  bank  A. 

WHAT  CAN  BE  PUT  INTO  IT? 

Strictly  code.  I  use  two  of  the  banks  to  hold 
records  for  a  database  program.  It  switches  the 
banks  in  or  out  as  needed  to  add  records  or  to 
sort  them. 

The  code,  however,  can  be  in  the  form  of  an  AROS 
cartridge  and  therefore  be  used  to  hold  a  BASIC 
program. 

HOW  TO  SAVE  THE  RAMDISK  BANK 

Any  data  read  into  the  bank  would  destroy  the 
existing  data.  To  preserve  the  RAMDISK,  enter  the 
following:  OUT  244,240:  OUT  7,7  :RANDOHIZE  USR 
100:  SAVE  "RAHDSK.C1"  CODE  32768,32768.  The 
contents  of  bank  A  will  now  be  safely  on  floppy 
and  we  can  mess  around  with  the  bank  as  much  as  we 
want.  The  DOCK  bank,  however,  is  still  active  and 
needs  to  be  turned  off. 

HOW  TO  GET  BACK  TO  NORMAL 

The  commands  <0UT  244,0:  OUT  7,0>  will  do  the  job. 
With  a  lero  in  the  HSR  via  PORT  244,  all  bits  are 
zeros  and  all  chunks  of  RAM  will  be  active  in 
HOHE.  The  xero  to  PORT  7  will  turn,  return  to  bank 
H  which  has  a  code  of  zero.  This  is  the  normal 
condition  for  RAMDISK. 

BANK  H  -  A  SPECIAL  CASE 

When  the  computer  is  turned  on  or  NEWed,  it  checks 
the  DOCK  to  see  if  an  AROS  is  present.  If  one  is, 
it  is  automatically  activated.  A  simulated  AROS 
loaded  into  this  bank  will  run  if  the  <NEW>  key  is 
pressed.  If  the  power  supply  is  turned  off,  the 
code  in  the  bank  will  be  lost  even  if  the  battery 
backup  is  connected.  If  you  want  a  permanent  AROS 
in  bank  zero,  install  an  EPROM  containing  the 
utility  in  the  H  bank  socket.  I  have  HOT-Z  in  the 
bank  and  a  switch  in  the  line  running  from  pin  1 
of  the  74145  to  pin  20  of  the  H  RAH  chip.  Without 
the  switch,  HOT-Z  would  run  every  time  the 
computer  was  booted. 

HOW  TO  RESTORE  THE  RAMDISK  BANK 

<OUT  244,240:  OUT  7,71:  LOAD  "RAHDSK.Cl"CODE>  will 
put  the  RAHDISK  bank  A  back  in  the  RAH  chip.  Don't 
forget  to  <OUT  244, 0> 

SIMULATING  AN  AROS  CARTRIDGE 


An  AROS  cartridge  must  have  8  "overhead"  bytes 

starting  at  32768  (8009  hex)  to  give  the  computer 

the  information  it  needs  to  run  the  BASIC  program. 

See  page  119  of  the  Tech  Manual. 

For   our  demo  we  will   POKE  into  bank  A  the 

following  bytes:  1,2,8,128,15, 1,1,0. 

The   first   1   indicates   that   this   is   a  BASIC 

"cartridge". 

The  2  signals  AROS  as  opposed  to  LROS,  a  Language 
cartridge. 

The  8  and  128  form  the  beginning  address  of  the 
BASIC  program  (low  byte  first).  In  this  case  the 
BASIC  will  be  at  84256*128=32776  or  8008  hex. 
The  15  (00001111  bin)  means  that  chunks  4  to  7 
will  be  active  in  the  DOCK  bank.  This  is  exactly 
opposite  to  the  format  for  the  HSR. 
The  second  1  denotes  an  Autostart  for  the  program. 
The  two  teros  reserve  no  bytes  for  m/c  variables. 
The  BASIC  program  will  be  loaded  as  code  starting 
at  32776. 

CREATING  AN  AROS 

1.  Save  RAMD1SK  bank  A  as  described  earlier  and 
then  key  in  OUT  244,0 
2.  Key  in  10  CLS:  PRINT  "OK":  STOP 
20  OUT  244,240:  OUT  7,71 
30  RESTORE:  FOR  X=  62768  TO  32775: 

READ  T:  PORE  X,Y:  NEXT  X 
40  DATA  1,2,8,128,15,1,0,0 
50  OUT  244,0 

3.  8 AVE  as  "test.Bl" 

4.  SAVE  as  "test.Cl"CODE  PEEK  23635+256*23636,1000 
The  peeks  simply  find  the  address  of  the  start 
of  the  BASIC  program.  It  is  moved  up  50  bytes 
if  the  large  printer  is  active.  The  1000  is  an 
arbitrary  number  large  enough  to  be  sure  that 
all  of  the  program  is  saved. 

5.  Now  <GOTO  20>.  This  will  put  the  "overhead 
bytes"  for  the  AROS  in  place. 

6.  Key  in  OUT  244,240:  LOAD  "test.Cl"CODE:  OUT  244 
,0.  This  will  put  the  BASIC  program  into  the 
"cartridge". 

7.  Press  <NEH>  key.  This  activates  the  AROS  and 
Line  10  of  the  program  should  run. 

8.  If  you  saved  a  RAHD1SK  bank  earlier,  load  it 
back  in. 

RUNNING  AN  AROS  (BASIC  IN  DOCK) 

If  DOCK  bank  n  contains  an  AROS,  then  <OUT  7, be: 
NEH>  will  RUN  it  (be  is  the  LARKEN  code  for  bank 
n).  It's  that  simple. 

STORING  AN  AROS 


If  the  bank  is  in  Drive  4,  then  keep  the  AROS  on 
floppy  and  load  it  in  when  you  need  it. 

RUNNING  AROS  FROH  DOCK  AND  BASIC  IN  HOME 

Programs  can  exist  in  both  banks  and  either  one 
can  be  RUN.  Which  one  is  active  depends  on  the 
contents  of  the  aros  flag  at  23750.  A  mo  at  this 
address  will  allow  the  HOME  bank  program  to  be 
run.  A  128  there  activates  the  DOCK  program. 
A  program  in  DOCK  cannot  be  listed  nor  can  it  be 
edited.  So  if  you  attempt  to  enter  a  line  and 
can't,  you  know  that  you  are  in  DOCK  and  must 
return  to  HOME. 

Steps  to  run  both: 

1.  Boot  the  DOCK  program  with  <OUT  7, be:  NEH>. 
This  MUST  be  done  first  to  let  the  computer 
know  that  an  AROS  is  present. 

2.  Key  in  POKE  23750,0  to  activate  HOME  bank. 

3.  Load  in  the  BASIC  program. 

4.  POKE  23750  with  0  or  128  depending  on  the  bank 
wanted  and  then  RUN  or  GOTO  the  appropriate 
line  number. 

SUMMING  UP 

The  ability  to  use  the  RAMDISK  banks  for  other 
purposes  expands  the  usefulness  of  the  2068 
dramatically.  Data  that  could  not  be  handled  by 
the  unexpanded  machine  can  now  be  dealt  with 
easily. 

Huge  BASIC  programs  can  be  broken  down  into 
segments,  stored  in  DOCK  banks,  and  called  into 
action  as  needed  by  a  short  controlling  program. 
This  would  leave  most  of  HOME  RAM  free  for  the 
storage  of  data. 

Expansion  of  the  2068  makes   economic  sense  too, 
removing  some  of  the  pressure  to  move  on  to  a 
bigger  machine  that  can't  be  tinkered  with. 
What  we  need  now  is  a  mess  of  programs  that 
exploit  this  potential. 

For  starters,  George  Chambers  has  two  of  mine.  One 
is  a  database  and  the  other  a  HOME/ DOCK  program 
handler.  Ask  him  for  them. 

Explore  and  enjoy!  Larry  C 


If  the  code  is  to  be  left  in  a  DOCK  bank  and 
maintained  with  the  battery  backup,  it  should  not 
be  in  a  bank  that  was  formatted  as  a  RAMDISK  bank. 


2.8 


A  T/S  2868  UTILITY  TO  PUT  BASIC  PROGRAMS  INTO  THE 
LARKEIf  RAMDISK  BANKS 

DONATED  TO  THE  PUBLIC  DOMAIN  BY  LARRY  CRAWFORD 
357  REYNOLDS  RD  LONDON  ONT  CANADA  N6K  2P8 
(519)  657-9119  27  JAN  90 

************************************************** 

BACKGROUND 

The  LARKEN  RAMDISK  banks  are  all  mapped  into  the 
DOCK  bank  of  the  2068  even  though  the  board  is 
plugged  into  the  back  expansion  slot. 
Consequently,  it  is  possible  to  load  any  of-  the 
RAMDISK  banks  with  code  which  simulates  a  BASIC 
cartridge  {an  AROS)  and  to  run  that  code  as  a 
BASIC  program.  This  suite  of  programs  will  allow 
you  to  create  your  own  simulated  cartridges  in  the 
RAMDISK  memory  chips.  A  program  running  from  DOCK 
leaves  the  HOME  bank  free  to  hold  another  program 
and/or  data.  Refer  to  Bill  Jones'  EXTRA  MEMORY 
PROGRAMMING  article  in  Update  Magazine  for  some  of 
the  implications  of  working  in  DOCK  bank. 

See  tlc(t,ASrxc£s 
FEATURES      (?a}c  33 

1.  Allows  a  choice  of  any  of  the  8  RAMDISK  banks. 

2.  SAVEs  the  chosen  RAMDISK  bank  to  floppy 
automatically. 

3.  Hill  RUN  a  program  in  DOCK  or  HOME  bank. 

4.  Allows  a  BASIC  program  to  be  MERGED  into  HOME 
bank  or  a  new  program  to  be  keyed  in. 

5.  Hill  move  a  program  from  HOME  bank  into  DOCK. 

6.  SAVEs  the  program  in  HOME  as  a  BASIC  program 
and  the  one  in  DOCK  as  cartridge  code. 

7.  Reloads  the-  saved  RAMDISK  bank  after  these 
SAVEs  have  been  completed  thus  restoring  the 
computer  to  its  original  condition. 

8.  Uses  no  variables  internally  except  for  the 
string  variable  Z$  so  will  not  normally  interfere 
with  the  operation  of  a  BASIC  program  MERGEd  with 
it. 


GETTING  STARTED 

Type  in  listing  1  ("maker. Bl")  and  GO  TO  9999  to 
save  it. 

GO  TO  100  to  create  and  save  ,fmove20 j.Cl".  This 
step  need  be  done  only  once  for  each  disk  to  be 
used. 

Type  in  listing  2  ("loader. B1M)  and  GO  TO  9999  to 
save  it.  This  is  the  program  to  be  RUN  when  a  new 
AROS  is  to  be  created  or  programs  are  to  be  run  in 
both  HOME  and  DOCK  banks. 

Type  in  listing  3  ("PRGMV.B3") .  Save  as  "PRGMV.B3" 
and  as  a  code  file:  < RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE 
"CORE.Cl"CODE  PEEK  23635+  PEEK  23636, 3000>.  The 
two  PEEKs  find  the  beginning  of  the  BASIC  program. 
This  is  necessary  since  LARKEN  moves  (prog)  up  50 
bytes  if  the  large  printer  is  activated.  The  3000 
is  an  arbitrary  number  large  enough  to  be  sure 
that  all  of  the  program  has  been  saved. 

USING  THE  PROGAMS 
(A  TUTORIAL) 

1.  Since  the  RAMDISK  banks  will  be  used,  the  HRITE 
PROTECT  switch  must  be  in  the  OFF  position. 

2.  The  floppy  disk  must  have  its  protect  sticker 
removed. 

3.  Since  both  the  RAMDISK  and  floppy  disks  will  be 
messed  with,  it  is  prudent  to  make  copies  of  each 
before  using  the  program. 

4.  LOAD  "loader. Bl".  You  will  be  asked  which  bank 
is  to  be  used. 

Enter  <1>  for  bank  "A",  <2>  for  "B",  etc. 
Use  <1>  for  a  trial  run. 

There  will  be  a  great  whirring  and  clanking  for  a 
few  seconds  while  it  saves  the  RAMDISK  bank  you 
chose,  loads  in  the  matching  DOCK  bank  and  a  short 
m/c  routine. 

The  screen  will  flicker,  simulating  a  crash,  and 
then  some  more  whirring  while  the  BASIC  controller 
program  is  merged  into  HOME  bank. 
Finally,  a  menu  in  black  ink  on  cyan  paper  will 
inform  you  which  DOCK  bank  you  are  in  and  give  you 
the  choice  of  going  to  HOME  bank  or  running  a 
program  in  DOCK. 

The  whole  process  is  quite  scary. 


9.  All  features  are  MENU  driven  for  ease  of  use.       5.  If  you  choose  to  RUN  in  DOCK,   the  same  menu 

will  appear  since  the  only  program  resident  is  the 

10.  The  screen  and  ink  colours  change  when  you    BASIC  controller  program  (PRGMV.B3). 
change  banks  so  that  you  will  know  which  bank  is 

active.  This  information  is  important  because  you  6.  The  other  option  will  reveal  the  BASIC 
cannot  LIST  or  EDIT  lines  if  you  are  in  the  DOCK.      controller  listed  in  white  ink  on  blue  paper. 

2.9 


Since  the  program  was  just  HERGEd  into  the  HOME 

bank,  it  will  not  autorun. 

Use  <GOTO  9999>  to  bring  up  the  menu. 

7.  The  menu  will  give  you  4  options:  1:  RUN,  2: 
MERGE,  3:  MOVE  to  DOCK,  and  4:  SAVE  &  RESTORE. 

8.  Try  option  1.  You  will  be  asked  which  bank  you 
want  to  RUN  in.  Either  choice  at  this  time  will 
come  up  with  the  menu  for  the  bank  chosen  with  the 
appropriate  ink  and  paper  colours. 

After  going  to  DOCK  and  returning  to  HOME,  use 
<GOTO  9999>  again  to  return  to  the  menu. 

9.  Now  try  the  option  2  to  merge  a  program  into 
HOME  bank. 

A  CAT  will  be  performed  and  you  will  be  prompted 

to  enter  the  name  of  the  program. 

The  program  to  be  merged  must  not  include  lines 

above  9990  or  it  will  destroy  the  controller 

program  and  you  will  lose  control. 

If  the  program  uses  the  TIMEX  printer,   it  should 

make  a  USR  call   to  2613  to  clear  the  printer 

buffer  before  any  printing  is  done  and  should 

reload  "mov20 j.C3"CODE  after  using  the  printer. 

Try  wtest.BlM.  This  is  a  one  line  PRINT  program  at 

line  It. 

10.  Return  to  the  menu  and  choose  the  RUN  option. 
Choose  DOCK  and  note  that  its  menu  comes  up  again 
because  the  test  program  has  not  been  moved  into 
DOCK  yet. 

11.  Return  to  HOME  and  call  up  the  menu. 

This  time  choose  to  RUN  in  HOME.  The  test  program 
will  run  and  print  an  "OK"  message. 

12.  Return  to  the  menu  and  choose  the  MOVE  option. 
A  prompt  will  tell  you  to  hit  a  key  to  return  to 
menu. 

13.  Now  RUN  in  DOCK  and  see  the  test  program 
running. 

Use  <GOTO  9990>  to  get  to  the  DOCK  menu. 

14.  Return  to  HOME  and  delete  the  print  line. 

15.  RUN  in  both  banks  and  note  that  the  test 
program  still  works  in  DOCK. 

16.  Now  move  the  program  to  DOCK  and  RUN  in  both 
banks  again. 

The  test  program  has  been  removed  from  DOCK. 
(This  program  should  be  removed  before  using  the 
last  option  of  saving  the  DOCK  program) 

17.  Put  a  line  somewhere.  Por  example,  <1  REM> 
will  do  nicely. 

The  SAVE  option  deletes  lines  1  to  9990  and  there 
must  be  something  to  delete. 

30 


Choose  option  4  of  the  HOME  menu. 

The  program  in  the  HOME  bank  will   be  saved  as 

MHOMEn.BlM  where  n  is  the  chosen  bank. 

The  DOCK  bank  will   be  saved  as  MDOCKn.ClMCODE 

32768,1.  where  1  is  the  length  of   the  file  in 

DOCK. 

The  RAMDISK  bank  MRDBNKn.ClM  will  be  loaded,  thus 
restoring  RAMDISK  to  its  original  state. 
But  the  RAMDISK  bank  is  still  switched  on  and  a 
program  loaded  in  now  would  overwrite  the  data  in 
the  bank. 

You  will  be  prompted  to  switch  off  the  power 
supply  before  doing  anything  else  with  the 
computer. 

18.  Now  switch  on  and  try  RAMDISK.  It  should  work 
normally. 

************************************************** 
USING  IOUR  AROS 

Assume  that  you  have  moved  a  BASIC  program  "XX.Bl" 
into  bank  7  and  want  to  keep  it  there  to  be  run  at 
any  time. 

Bank  7  cannot  be  formatted  as  a  RAMDISK  bank  in 
drive  4. 

The  AROS  was  saved  as  "D0CK7.C1M  when  you  created 
it.  Change  the  name  to  HXXAR.C7M  and  put  it  into 
bank  7  as  follows: 

<OUT  244,240:  OUT  7,68:  RANDOMIZE  USR   100:  LOAD 

HXXAR.C7"C0DE>  <OUT  244,0:  OUT7,0> 

The  program  will  stay  in  the  bank  as  long  as  the 

battery  backup  is  in  place. 

To  run  the  AROS:  <OUT  7,4:  NEW>.  It's  that  simple. 

The  bank  can  be  used  for  other  programs  since  the 

code  resident  in  bank  7  will  be  saved  when  the  new 

BANK7.C1  is  created  with  the  package  and  will  be 

restored  when  the  process  is  finished. 

Thus  any  number  of  programs  can  be  run  in  the  one 

bank  as  long  as  each  is  given  a  distinctive  name 

and  is  loaded  into  the  bank  as  required. 

File  MXXAR.C7H  would  have  to  reloaded  if  it  is 

desired  to  have  it  resident  in  the  bank. 

************************************************** 
LISTING  1  (maker.Bl) 

5  REM  TO  CREATE  THE  CODEUTILITT  Hmov20j.C 
3"  WHICH  SWITCHES  FROM  DOCK  TO  HOME  BANK  AMD  MOVE 
S  A  PROGRAM  FROM  HOME  TO  DOCK,<GOTO  100>  LARR 
I  CRAWFORD  20  JAN  90 

20  PRINT  AT  10,4;MTHIS  PROGRAM  WILL  FORMAT"; AT 
11,9;"A  RAMDISK  BANK"; AT  13,4;"WH1CH  BANK  WILL  BE 
USED?";AT  14,12;"(1  TO  8)":  INPUT  B:  LET  B$="735 
16240":  LET  LRBNK=CODE  B$(B)U6 

30  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  "CORE.crcODE  32780: 
RESTORE  30:  FOR  X=32768  TO  32779:  READ  I:  POKE  X 
pi:  NEXT  X:  DATA  1,2,12,128,15,1,0,0,B,LKBNK,184, 
11:  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  "DOCK"*STR$  Bt\Cl"CO 
DE  32768,3000 


41  STOP 

100  RESTORE  111:  POR  X=23296  TO  23334:  READ  Y:  P 
ORE  X,Y:  NEXT  X:  DATA  175,050,198,092,195,040 ,014 
,237,091,083,092,042,089,092,205,069,023,017,012, 
128,175,211,244,126,245,062,240,211,244,241,018,0 
35,019,011,120,177,032,238,201 

110  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  "mov20j.C3"CODE  2329 
6,39:  STOP 

9999  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  "maker. Bl"  LINE  1 
LISTING  2  (loader. Bl) 

10  CLEAR  65367:  PRINT  AT  10,0;"THIS  PROGRAM  HIL 
L  MOVE  A  BASIC"'"  PROGRAM  INTO  A  RAMDISK  BANK""* 

HHICH  BANK  HILL  BE  USED?"'"  (1  TO  8)": 

INPUT  B:  LET  B$-"73516240":  LET  LKBNK=CODE  B$(B)+ 
16 

20  OUT  244,240:  OUT  7,LRBNK:  RANDOMIZE  USR  100: 
SAVE  HRDBNR"+STR$  B+".C1"C0DE  32768,32768:  RAN DO 
MIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  "DOCR"+STR$  B+".Cl"CODE  :  OUT 
244,0:  NEW 

9999  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  "loader. Bl"  LINE  1 


LISTING  3  (PRGMV.B3) 

10  REM  DO  NOT  DELETE  THIS  LINE 

9991  PORE  26664, (PEEK  26664)+l:  GO  TO  9997+(PEEK 
26664>1)+(PEER  23750=0) 

9992  CLS  :  PRINT  AT  10,0;"RUN  PROGRAM  IN"M"1:  HO 
ME  BANK" ""2: DOCK  BANK"' '"CHOOSE":  PAUSE  0:  POKE 
23750, 128*(INKEY$="2"):  BORDER  1+(IHKEY$="2")*4: 
PAPER  1+(INKEY$="2")*4:  INK  (INKEY$="1")*7:  GO  TO 

0 

9993  CLS  :  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  CAT  "",:  INPUT  "ENT 
ER  NAME  OF  PGM  TO  BE  MERGED  ";Z$:  RANDOMIZE  USR 
100:  MERGE  Z$:  GO  TO  9999 

9994  CLS  :  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  PORE  26662, (PEER  23 
641+256*PEEK  23642)-(PEEK  23635+256*PEER  23636)+! 
4:  RANDOMIZE  USR  23303:  PRINT  AT  10,0;"THIS  PROGR 
AM  IS  NOW  IN  BOTH  DOCKAND  HOME  BANKS"" "AND  YOU  A 
RE  IN  THE  HOME  BANK"' '"PRESS  ANY  REY  FOR  MENU":  P 
AUSE  0:  CL 

S  :  GO  TO  9999 

9995  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  "HOMEH+STR$  PEER  266 
60+". Bl":  DELETE  1,9990:  OUT  244,240:  OUT  7, PEEK 
26661:  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  SAVE  "DOCR"+STR$  PEEK  2 
6660+".Cl"CODE  32768, PEEK  26662+256*PEER  26663:  R 
ANDOMIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  "RDBNR"+STR$  PEEK  26660+". 
Cl"CODE  : 

OUT  244,0:  OUT  7,8:  CLS  :  PRINT  AT  10,0;"HOME,  DO 
CK  BANKS  HAVE  BEEN  SAVED" ""RAMDISK  BANK  HAS  BEEN 
RESTORED" ""SWITCH  OFF  POWER  SUPPLY  BEFORE" ""LO 
ADING  ANOTHER  PROGRAM":  STOP 

9996  BORDER  1:  PAPER  1:  INK  7:  CLS  :  RANDOMIZE  US 
R  23296 

9997  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  LOAD  "mov20 j . C3"CODE  :  OU 
T  244,240:  POKE  26660, PEEK  32776:  PORE  26661, PEEK 

32777:  POKE  26662, PEEK  32778:  PORE  26663, PEER  32 
779:  OUT  244,0:  RANDOMIZE  USR  100:  MERGE  "PRGMV.B 


9998  BORDER  5:  PAPER  .5:  INR  0:  CLS  :  PRINT  AT  10, 
0;"YOU  ARE  NOW  IN  DOCR  BAHR  ";PEER  26660 ""YOUR  C 
HOICES  ARE"""1:  SWITCH  TO  HOME  BANK"  ""2:  RUN  A 
PROGRAM  IN  DOCK  BANK" ""ENTER  CHOICE  ":  PAUSE  0: 
GO  TO  9996*(INKEY$="1") 

9999  OUT  244,0:  CLS  :  PRINT  AT  9,7;"YOUR  CHOICES 
ARE"""1:  OPERATE  A  PGM  IN  EITHER  BANK"  ""2:  MERG 
E  A  PGM  TO  HOME  BANK" ""3:  MOVE  THIS  PGM  TO  DOCK 
BANR"""4:  SAVE  HOME  &  DOCK  BANKS  ";PEEK  26660;" 
AND"'"  RESTORE  RAMDISK  BANK""  '"ENTER  CHOIC 
E":  PAUSE 

0:  GO  TO  9991+CODE  INKEY$-48 
************************************************** 


DOCUMENTATION  FOR  THE  PROGRAMS  THAT  MAKE  UP  THE 
T/S  2068  UTILITY  TO  PUT  BASIC  PROGRAMS  INTO  THE 
LARKEN  RAMDISK  BANKS 

DONATED  TO  THE  PUBLIC  DOMAIN  BY  LARRY  CRAWFORD 
357  REYNOLDS  RD  LONDON  ONT  CANADA  N6K  2P8 
(519)  657-9119  27  JAN  90 

************************************************** 

For  background  and  theory  refer  to  the  tutorial 
Tasword  file  "tutor. CT"  on  this  disk. 

A  RAMDISK  bank  is  one  of  the  RAM  chips  on  the 
LARKEN  RAMDISK  board. 

A  DOCK  bank  is  one  of  these  chips  used  without 
being  fomatted  into  drive  4. 
An  AROS  is  a  DOCK  bank  file  that  contains 
"overhead  bytes"  and  a  BASIC  program. 

************************************************** 
"maker.Bl" 

This  short  program  is  really  two  programs  in  one. 
Lines  20  and  30  will  create  a  code  file  which, 
when  loaded  into  a  DOCK  bank,  simulates  a  BASIC 
AROS  cartridge.  Lines  100  and  110  create  the  39 
byte  m/c  program  which  is  called  to  switch  from 
DOCK  to  HOME  bank  and  to  move  a  BASIC  program  from 
HOME  to  DOCK  bank. 

LINE  20 

Prompts  for  the  bank  to  be  used  as  an  AROS.  This 

number  is  assigned  to  variable  B. 

RAMDISK  banks  are  identified  as  A,  B,  C,...,H.  We 

will  use  the  sequence  1,  2,  3,  ...,8  instead. 

This  will  help  distinguish  between  the  lettered 

RAMDISR  banks  and  the  numbered  DOCR  banks. 

A  string  variable,  B$,   is  assigned  the  set  of 

integers  which  are  the  RAMDISR  bank  code  numbers. 

The  appropriate  number  is  sliced  out  of  the 

string,  adjusted  to  turn  off   the  write-protect 

feature,  then  assigned  to  the  variable  LRBNR. 

LINE  30 

Loads  in  a  previously  prepared  code  program.  More 


on  that  later.  POKES  the  "overhead  bytes'*  for  the 
AROS  into  the  first  eight  addresses  in  the  bank. 
Then  pokes  the  bank  number  and  the  bank  code 
number  into  the  next  two.  The  last  two  bytes  are 
the  number  of  bytes  to  be  saved  as  code.  The  two 
numbers  in  the  DATA  statement  represent  3190,  an 
arbitrary  number  large  enough  to  include  all  the 
data. 

Then  the  file  is  saved  as  "DOCKb.cr,  where  b  is 
the  bank  number. 

A  file  of  this  format  must  be  stored  on  the  disk 
before  the  utility  can  be  used. 


LINE  100 

POKES  the  following  m/c  program  into  the  beginning 
of  the  printer  buffer: 
23296  XOR  A 

LD  (AROS  FLAG), A  Switches  to  HOME  bank> 
JP  3624  decimal    <the  entry  point  to  BASIC 
in  R0M> 


23303  LD  DE,  (prog) 
LD  HL,  (el in) 
CALL  5957  decimal 


LD  DE, 32780  dec. 

loop  XOR  A 

OUT  (244), A 

LD  A, (HL) 
PUSH  AF 
LD  A, 240  dec. 
OUT  (244), A 

POP  AF 
LD  (DE),A 
INC  HL 
INC  DE 
DEC  BC 
LD  A,B 
OR  C 

JR  NZ,loop 
RET 


<"differenceM  subroutine 
in  ROM.   Loads  BC  with 
difference  between  HL 
and  DE.   Loads  HL  with 
(prog)> 

<where  the  BASIC  pgm  is 

to  be  moved> 
<load  A  with  xero> 
<all   chunks  of  RAH  in 

HOME  bank  active> 
<get  byte  of  BASIC  pgm> 
<store  byte> 


< chunks  4  to  7  active  in 
DOCK  bank> 

<get  byte  of  BASIC  pgm> 
<put  byte  in  DOCK  bank> 

<increase  both  pointers> 
<decrease  counter) 


<loop  until  counter  is  0> 


LINE  110 

The  39  bytes  are  saved  as  Mmov20j.Cl"  ready  to  be 

loaded  later  when  needed. 

Lines  100  and  110  need  only  be  used  once. 

v 

tttttttttt*ttt*t*tt*tt*t*tt*tt*tttttttttt*t*tttttt 


"loader .81" 

This  is  the  program  that  is  run  to  actually  use 
the  utility. 


32 


LINE  10 

Prompts  for  the  bank  number,  B,  and  calculates  the 
value  for  RDBNK. 

LINE  20 

Switches  on  the  chosen  bank  and  saves  the  resident 
RAMDISK  data. 

Loads  in  the  matching  DOCK  bank  AROS. 

Switches  on  all  chunks  of  HOME  bank,   leaving  the 

DOCK  bank  selected. 

t********t*********t******e**t*t*tttt*et*«tttt**t* 

"PRGMV.B3"  and  "CORE.C1" 

Both  are  the  same  program:  one  saved  as  BASIC  and 
the  other  as  a  code  file.  Between  them  they  are 
the  controllers  for  loading  and  running  BASIC 
programs  in  ROME  and  DOCK  banks. 
The  code  version  is  resident  in  the  AROS  and  runs 
when  the  computer  is  NEWed  by  the  loader  program. 

LINE  10 

This  is  a  dummy  line  needed  if  no  other  program  is 
merged  into  HOME  bank.  The  SAVE  option  deletes 
lines  1  to  9990.  Therefore,  there  must  be  at  least 
one  line  in  that  range. 

LINE  9991 

Address  26664  that  is  peeked,  incremented,  and 
poked,  is  located  in  an  unused  corner  of  RAH.  It 
has  a  value  of  zero  on  startup  and  is  used  here  as 
a  flag  to  indicate  whether  or  not  this  is  the 
first  run  of  the  program. 

If  this  is  the  first  run,  PEEK  26664  will  not  be 

greater  than  1  and  PEEK  23750  will  not  equal  zero 

(we're  in  DOCK  now  so  23750  holds  128).   Thus  the 

GOTO  will  be  to  9997+0+0. 

If  this  is  not  the  first  run  and  we're  in  DOCK, 

the  GOTO  will  be  to  9997+1+0. 

If  we're  in  HOME  bank,  GOTO  9997+1+1. 

LINE  9997 

This  line  is  used  only  on  startup.  First  the  m/c 
routines  are  loaded  into  the  printer  buffer. 
The  top  4  chunks  of  HOME  bank  are  switched  off. 
Then  the  bank  number,  bank  code  number,  and  number 
of  bytes  of  code  in  the  AROS  are  all  poked  into 
the  comer  of  RAM  next  to  our  flag. 
These  parameters  must  be  accessible  no  matter 
which  bank  is  in  use. 

Finally,  the  ROME  bank  is  restored  to  its  full 
size  and  the  BASIC  controller,  "PRGHV.B3"  is 
merged  into  place. 

LIRE  9998 

Sets  the  paper  and  border  to  cyan  and  ink  to 
black.  These  colors  inform  you  that  the  computer 
is  operating  in  DOCK  bank. 
A  menu  is  displayed  giving  you  the  option  of  going 
to  HOME  bank  or  running  a  program  in  DOCK. 


If  the  choice  is  to  goto  HOME  then  the  GOTO  will 
be  to  9996*1.  If  not,  GOTO  9996*8;  thus 
effectively  running  the  program  in  DOCK. 

LINE  9996 

Sets  the  paper  and  border  to  blue  and  ink  to 
white. 

These  colors  inform  you  that  the  computer  is 
operating  in  HOME  bank. 

The  bank-switching  routine  at  23296  is  called  and 
control  will  now  be  in  HOME  bank. 
The  resident  program  will  not  run  automatically 
but  must  be  activated  with  a  GOTO  to  the 
appropriate  line  number. 

GOTO  9999  will  always  bring  up  the  menu  in  HOME. 
LINE  9999 

The  HOME  menu.  First,  the  HOME  bank  is  switched  in 
and  the  4  choices  displayed. 
PEEK  26660  in  the  SAVE  option  is  the  bank  number. 
The  GOTO  line  is  simply  9991+  the  choice  number. 
If  the  first  option  is  selected,  control  is  passed 
to  line  9992. 

LINE  9992 

A  new  menu  is  displayed  giving   the  option  of 

running  the  program  in  HOME  or  DOCK  banks. 

The  POKE  to  23750  is  either  0  or  128  depending  on 

the  bank  chosen.  The  operative  bank  is  determined 

by  the  value  stared  in  23750. 

Similarly,  the  border,  paper,  and  ink  colors  are 

set  by  the  Boolean   logic  in  each    of  the 

statements. 

The  GOTO  0  effectively  runs  the  program  in  the 
selected  bank. 

LINE  9993 

Activated  by  the  MERGE  option  of  the  menu. 

It  does  a  CAT  and  prompts   for  the  name  of  the 

program  to  be  merged. 

MERGES  that  program  and  returns  to  the  menu. 
LINE  994 

Called  by  the  MOVE  option  of  the  menu.  Whatever 
program  is  resident  in  HOME  will  be  placed  into 
the  AROS. 

First,  the  number  of   bytes   between   (el in)  and 

(prog)  is  found  and  14  bytes  added  to  allow  for 

the  "overhead"  bytes  of  the  AROS    and  our 

parameters.   This  number  is  double  poked  into 

26662,  replacing  the  previous  length  stored.  (He 

had  poked  in  3000  originally.  Remember?) 

The  m/c  at  23303  is  then  called  to  do   the  actual 

move  then  a  message  is  displayed  to  inform  you 

that  the  move  has  taken  place. 

The  menu  is  then  called  up  once  more. 

LINE  9995 

The  SAVE  option.  Lots  of  activity  here. 

First,  the  program  in  HOME  is  saved  under  the  name 


"HOMEb.Bl"  where  b  is  the  bank  number. 
Then  lines  1  to  9990  are  deleted  to  be  sure  that 
line  9995  is  not  in  a  chunk  of  RAM  that  will  get 
switched  off. 

Next,  chunks  4  to  7  are  switched  off  for  MOME  bank 

and  the  write-protect  turned  off  in  DOCK. 

The  number  of  bytes  to  be  saved  is  PEEKed  from 

26662  and  26663  and  the  AROS  saved  as  "DOCKb.ClH. 

The  RAMDISK  bank  that  was  saved  at  the  beginning 

is  put  back  in  place  by  LOAD  "RDBNKb.Cl". 

A  message  is  displayed  to  be  sure  that  the 

computer  is  completely  back  to  normal  by  switching 

off  the  power  supply  before  using  it  with  another 

program. 

************************************************** 

"CORE. CI" 

The  controller  program  "PRGMV.B3"  saved  as  code. 
After  PRGMV.B3  is  typed  in,  it  is  saved  as 
MC0RE.C1"C0DE  PEER  23635+  PEEK  23636,  3000. 

************************************************** 

VARIABLES  USED  BY  THE  UTILITY 
IN  AROS       IN  RAM  MEANING 

32776  26660       active  bank  number 

32777  26661       LARKEN  bank  code 

32778,9       26662,3     length  of  code  file  in  AROS 

26664       flag  for  first  run  of  pgm 
************************************************** 


Rlz{-ER  tree's 


These  two  articles  In  this  issue 
is  the  wrap-up  on  the  subject  of 
Extra  Memory-    There  are  many 
more  articles  in  the  back  issues 
of  Update  and  the  total  of  these 
form  a  complete  reference  on 
Extra  Memory,  both  f ran  the 
Programing  and   the  hardware 
standpoints.    These  articles  will 
be  referenced  by  Update  Magazine 
issue  dates  below. 


Oct  87- 
Jan  88--  Extra  mam  programing . 

Mod  of  TS-IOOO  Ram. 

15-2068  whole  schematic. 

Ext  Buss  pin  diagram. 
Apr  88—  System  Variables. 

MOVE  PROG  -  Program. 
Jul  88—  DOS- 64  f  Bankswitching. 

First  of  Chuck  Bothner's 

series  on  RAM  EXPANSICtf. 
Oct  88--  Larken  Ram  Disk. 

Extra  memory  recap. 

Chuck  Bothner's  second 

art  on  RAM  ECTEHSIOH. 
Jan  89 —  LKD03  OFF  Switch. 
Jul  89—  FD-68  Update  (bkswitch). 
Oct  89 —  Larry  Crawford's  first 

Ex  Memory  article. 
Jan  90—  Two  articles  in  this 


33 


WIDJUP  (Bill  Pederson,  1120  Merrifield  S.E.,  Grand  Rapids,  MI  49507)  has  sane 
interesting  facta  on  PRINTERS  and  DRIVERS  that  are  applicable  to  all  Caqputers.  His 
CRD  DISCS  are  for  the  TS-2068  LKD06  Sjstm.    Write  for  iafonaation. 

DOT    MATRIX    PRINTER  DRIVER 

The  VIDJUP  Co.  graphic  priater  driver  far  9  and  24  pia  printers 
is  a  very  flexible  tool.     It  was  designed  to  do  VIIDOVS.  These 
windows  refer  to  the  printed  page,  not  the  screen. 

A  window  can  be  napped  to  the  screen  in  aany  ways.    Sooe  can 
lead  to  confusion.    If  it  happens  to  be  a  screen  dunp,  it's  easy 
to  forget  that  it  is  the  printer  which  is  being  mapped  to  the 
screen— not  the  opposite.    All  windows  are  espty  until  written 
to  by  programs. 

Artwork  programs  write  graphics  to  the  screen,  or  to  a  file 
which  can  be  displayed.    For  computers  with  lots  of  memory  the 
files  might  be  priater  page  images,  often  compressed,  giving  the 
program  DESKTOP  capability. 

Host  art  and  font  programs  for  the  TS2068  are  screen  oriented. 
That  is  where  mapping  becomes  important.    The  priater  window  can 
be  mapped  to  the  sane  location  that  the  artwork  program  uses. 

The  artwork  program  now  appears  to  be  writing  to  the  printer. 

When  the  printer  window  is  small  enough  to  fit  on  the  screen, 
it  is  possible  to  have  "Vhat  you  see  is  what  you  get." 
More  properly,  "You  can  almost  see  what  you  are  going  to  get. 

At  best,  you  may  still  have  distortions.    WYSIWYG  is  a  catchy 
phrase,  but  it  is  still  an  idealistic  view  that  can't  be  met 
using  any  common  monitor,  unless  dedicated  for  special  use. 

It  is  not  wrong  to  want  to  see  what  your  printed  output  will  be 
like.    That  Is  a  valid  human  engineering  goal,  though  not  always 
necessary.    Good  programs  provide  a  "PBBYIBW  function,  often 
backed  up"  with  "FAT  BIT"  managing  editors. 

When  a  priater  window  is  too  large  to  be  displayed  across  the 
screen,  it  can  be  divided  into  pieces  which  can.    An  example  is 
displaying  a  *J0x8  dot  printer  window  on  four  consecutive  screen 
lines  with  some  space  left  unused  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  line. 

This  is  nice  for  graphic  mode  word  processing. 

There  are  11  pokes  necessary  to  set  up  a  window  and  map  it  to 
the  screen.    An  application  might  use  many  windows,  so  some  way 
to  make  this  easier  is  required.    One  way  is  to  set  up  an  array 
with  the  most  frequently  used  windows  predefined. 

The  array  JS<20,11)  is  used  in  WIDJUP  programs.    That  for  CADtfi 
is  shown  below.    Heferences  to  a  checkerboard  apply  to  a  DBHO 
" "  for  GIAPHOIY.  a  utility  for  developing  windows  for  applications 
like  DESKTOP- 

J*E.A»    VIITDOW   DATA  ARRAY 
Scrt^n  Comer    TYP5    Print  torgin     Char     LF/CR    Lwe  *»J« 

cSSn  Sc«  C3K  Passes  A  IJ*  W  Fjj*  *f  »$  i  Serf.  f^.JHjW  }}•» 
2   0        ?      «       4i       40      32       2      2  J        I      ul^Tirm  SKlfbcth) 

19  0  %  \  *  3  *  t  t  i«s  1  960  dot  pass  12'bcthi 

S  0  32  *  J  J  2  22  I  192  I  9?0  dot  pass  M(ooUj)  . 

$  0  64  «  \  X  V*   •     ?  0  5  208  0  ChtcktrtSrt  top  Ieft;9  pin) 

7  0  0  |  }  ^  ?}  *  24  $  IS3  0  Checkerboard  Up  rift 

9  1  0  9  I  •  l\  tZ{  5  208  «  Checkerboard  white  left 

9  0  8  |  }  4J  4  i  ,J  5  is!  0  Checkerboard  thiU  right 

tO  I  8  |  I  ,J  5?  f  o  5  208  0  Checkerboard,  b  ack  left 

11  0  M  8  f  «  *}  \  ?J  l  fs|  $  Checke^oa<  blK*  rirt 

12  I  |i  |  \  A  is  t"5  S  208  0  Checkerboard,  bettw  .t*t 

13  0  163  !  f  42  ?  ?  >i  e  0  ChtrtertoaM  Mtt»  ".jM 

32  32  H  32  0  3x  ?*  8  £  J2  32  9?*E 

15  92  :2  J2  32  32  3^.  J.  h  i=  i;  22  $W£ 

5  32  32  22  12  32  «  £  g  §  g  -| 

19  32  32  22  32  3t  £  g  g  g  g  j.  m  34 

SS  $  i  S  «  S  8  §  S  6  32  SPARE 


PHI ITER  VIIDOV  PARAXETERS 


Kargin  Dots. .  These  are  blank  dots  which  need  not  be  napped  to 
the  screen.    They  may  be  margin,  column  gap,  etc. 

Chars  Vide..  There  are  eight  dots  needed  per  character  shown 
on  the  screen,  but  each  screen  dot  may  be  copied  to 
the  printer  a  selected  number  of  times. 

Total  Dots..    The  total  of  margin  and  multiplied  char  dots. 

LF/CS. .  Vindaw  termination  nay  require  one  or  bath  codes 

to  allow  concatenation,  or  cause  a  new  line.  This 
parameter  specifies  the  number  of  codes  Issued. 

Line  Feeds..  The  number  of  minimum  line  feeds  to  be  taken  at 
the  end  of  the  window.    This  can  be  0. 

Prt  Passes..  The  number  of  times  a  single  window  is  repeated 
to  make  a  larger  one.    This  is  how  dumps  are  done. 

Graph  MODE. .    The  printer  graphic  mode  to  be  used  for  this 
window.    24  pin  printers  do  not  have  mode  5,  but 
support  24  pin  graphics.    These  added  modes  are  not 
supported  by  this  driver. 

SCEEEI  PARAXETERS 

Scrn  Column. .  Column  0  to  31  as  usual.  (Start  location) 
Scrn  Scan. .      Scan  0  to  195,  from  top  down.  (Start  location) 
Chars  Vide. .    From  1  to  120  (less  for  GORILLA  BAJAIA,  more  for 
wide  carriage  printers).    Vrap-around  is  active. 

Characters  printed  multiple  wide  reduce  this. 
TYPE  CODE. .      This  byte  contains  width,  height  and  video  mode 
specifications. 

BIT  6...  Double  wide. 

BIT  5...  Toggle  for  DJPILE2.  . 

BIT  4...  64  wide  video' mode. 

BIT  3. . .  Single  high.  (BIT  2=0) 

BIT  2. . .  Double  high.  (BIT  3=0) 

BITS  7,1,0...  lot  used. 

Designers  of  printers  cater  to  wants  and  needs  of  users  even 
when  those  are  based  on  less  than  full  knowledge  of  how  things 
work.  The  ideal  of  VYSIVYG  has  been  one  of  these.  Several  of 
the  graphics  modes  have  been  provided  to  achieve  this  for  CRTs 
and  displays  of  specific  types,  including  TS2068. 

The  designers  also  provided  for  more  enlightened  users,  though 
not  always  with  compatibility  with  older  methods  in  mind. 

Dot-for-dot  square  printing  is  lode  5  for  9  pin  printers,  but 
Rode  0  for  many  24  pin  printers. 

Some  displays  emulate  a  printed  page.    24  pin  printers  were  the 
next  advancement  to  obtain  letter  quality  printing  in  many  font 
styles  that  people  wanted.    This  expanded  graphics  performance 
as  well. 

This  new  graphics  capacity  is  only  partly  compatible  with  the 
older  printers.    As  mentioned,  lode  5  was  lost  (though  a  IEARLT 
equivalent  mode  is  available).    9  pin  mode  is  lost  as  well. 

This  was  acceptable  because  very  few  existing  printer  drivers 
called  far  these,  and  IEARLT  was  close  enough  to  satisfy  most. 
The  impact  on  existing  software  was  minimal.     It  is  in  the  area 
of  maximum  utilization  of  graphics  that  there  is  little  common 
ground. 

Existing  programs  making  maximum  use  of  graphics  are  generally 
available  only  for  other  computers  that  use  custom  drivers. 

CAD#2  has  a  driver  for  OLIVETTI  PR2300  ink  Jet  printer. 

(1/216-  line  feed) 
CAD#3  has  a  driver  for  BPSOI  9  Pin  printers  and  compatibles. 

( 1/216"  line  feed) 
CAD#4  has  a  driver  for  STAR  9  Pin  printers  and  compatibles. 

(JUQAA"  ltae  feed) (Being  updated) 
CAD#5  has  a  driver  for  EPSOI  24  Pin  printers  and  compatibles. 

( 1/180"  line-  feed)  (lot  available  yet) 

These  programs  differ  because  graphic  files  are  unique  to  each 
printer,  and  that  requires  special  routines  far  generation. 
Data  files,  however,  are  completely  transportable  between  them. 


(01969,1990  The  VIDJOT  Co.  VJP 


text    87    samci    Quill  other   virtues,    this    lets   you   have   10%  more 

IPsutrt    I  characters  to  a  line  with  no  deterioration  in 

readibility. 

Peter  Hale,  P.O.  Box  8763,  Boston,  MA  02114 

With  right  justification  all  spacing  is  micro- 
Unless  you  have  been  on  the  moon  for  the  past  two  kerned.  No  double  spaces  to  pad  things  out. 
years  you  have  at  least  heard  of  text1',  the  new  It's  almost  like  a  type-set  book,  and  the  printer 
word  processor  for  the  Sinclair  QL  and  Thor.  behaves  the  same  way. 


Whatever  objections  there  are  to  Quill  -  its 
snail-like  movement  around  a  file  and  its 
occassional  lockups  -  its  price  is  right  and  most 
of  us  have  learned  to  live  with  its  'features'. 

DEFINITION;  A  feature  is  a  bug  that  has  been 
around  so  long  that  everyone  has  learned  to  live 
with  it  and  takes  pride  in  knowing  how  to  avoid 
it. 

This  article,  and  the  ones  that  follow,  compare 
Quill  and  text11  while  at  the  same  time  provide  a 
tutorial  for  using  text*7. 

WHY  text"? 

First  of  all,  text17  is  a  WYSIWYG  (What  You  See 
Is  What  You  Get)  word  processor  with  many  of  the 
functions  found  in  good  editor  programs  and  a  lot 
of  other  goodies  besides. 

In  truth,  there  may  be  more  bells  and  whistles 
than  the  casual  writer  may  want,  but  as  a  word 
processor  it  has  features  and  is  capable  of  work 
that  is  impossible  on  any  other  wordprocessor  for 
any  other  computer. 

A  Brief  List  of  the  Major  Goodies: 

First  and  foremost,  it  doesn't  ever  lockup. 

The  cursor  is  faster  than  in  Quill  and  erasing  or 
moving  blocks  is  swift  like  a  bunny  rabbit. 

Virtually  every  printer  font  and  enhancement  can 
be  shown  on  the  screen  in  a  different  text  color 
or  screen  font.  Italic  is.  italic,  condensed  is. 
condensed,  double-wide  is  double-wide,  and  it  can 
be  red,  green  or  white.  You  choose.  Justification 
and  word  wrap  are  automatic  and  take  into  account 
different  pitches  (characters  per  inch)  of  text. 

The  default  font  is  proportional:  an  V  ■•takes  up 
less  horizontal  screen  space  than  an  V  7nuong 


All  files  are  in  RAM.  Unlike  Quill,  which  wants 
to  hog  all  available  memory,  it  permits  limits  to 
be  set  on  the  memory  to  be  used.  Then,  up  to  the 
memory  available,  text17  sets  a  limit.  However, 
except  in  its  minimal  configuration,  it  needs 
memory  expansion. 

Up  to  four  columns  of  text  can  be  printed  on  a 
single  page  in  a  single  pass  of  the  printhead. 
(It  does  not  show  that  way  on  the  screen  -  you 
see  just  one  column  at  a  time.) 

A  Quill  _doc  file  can  be  imported  to  text17  and 
carry  with  it  all  typefaces,  tabs  and  margin 
settings,  converting  them  to  the  appearance  set 
in  the  program. 

If  you  so  desire,  text17  can  convert  the  QL  to  a 
Dworak  keyboard  or  set  any  key  to  type  any 
character  in  the  QL  character  set  or  any  other 
character  you  choose  to  create.  However,  its  up 
to  you  to  mark  the  keys  themselves. 

With  auxiliary  files  (at  extra  cost)  screen  dumps 
are  possible  and  a  wide  range  of  new  fonts  can  be 
designed  for  special  effects.  There  is  even  a 
laser  printer  driver  specific  to  text17. 


A  Brief  List  of  Major  Differences: 

The  first  is  also  the  first  one  under  Goodies. 

The  next  difference  is  that  text17  has  no  Help, 
as  does  Quill,  through  the  Fl  key.  (Pressing  Fl 
in  text17  will  activate  the  spelling  checker.) 

A  third  difference  is  that  the  Redraw  screen  key 
is  F4,  not  SHIFT  F5  as  in  Quill. 

Two  other  differences  have  to  do  with  the  cursor: 
When  the  cursor  control  moves  more  than  one 
character,  as  with  Shift  Right  arrow,  it  seeks 
out  the  position  to  the  left  of  the  first  space 


3.6 


encountered;  Quill  seeks  out  the  position  to  the 
right. 

The  other  cursor  difference  is  that  it  acquires 
its  font  enhancements  from  the  character  to  its 
right;  Quill  picks  up  enhancements  from  the 
character  to  the  left  of  the  cursor. 

The  final  major  difference  is  that  there  is  no 
overwrite  function  in  text87.  The  reason  is 
fairly  simple,  text17  can  display  varying  sizes 
of  font  on  the  screen.  If  the  current  screen 
font  is  double-wide,  what  happens  when  trying  to 
overwrite  in  a  condensed  font? 

Although  disconcerting  at  first  for  a  person 
accustomed  to  Quill,  the  new  standard  is  not  that 
hii'J  to  come  to  terms  with. 

USING  text*7 

If  you  are  spoiled  by  the  simplicity  of  using 
Quill  straight  out  of  the  box,  you  may  feel 
frustrated  in  getting  up  and  going  with  text17. 

Before  starting  text17  for  the  first  time,  it  is 
necessary  to  select  the  correct  printer  driver 
from  the  dozens  of  files  for  a  wide  range  of  dot 
matrix  and  daisy  wheel  printers.  The  one  that 
applies  to  your  printer  must  be  copied  to  a  file 
called  driver_P87.  Henceforeward,  whenever  text17 
is  loaded,  this  file  is  automatically  accessed 
and  the  standards  of  a  particular  printer  modify 
the  program.  {Once  running  you  may  access  other 
driver  files  by  name  to  change  printers.) 

Thus  it  is  not  necessary  to  read  a  printer_dat 
file  each  time  a  document  is  printed.  Each 
printer  driver  includes  all  possible  translate 
functions.  Any  character  in  the  QL  character  set" 
that  is  present  somewhere  in  the  printer's  ROM 
can  be  used  without  having  to  run  install_bas  and 
be  restricted  to  ten  translate  options. 

You  must  write  your  own  boot.  The  manual  has  a 
sample  boot,  but  you  may  want  to  expand  an  it, 
particularly  to  define  ALTKEYs. 

After  loading,  which  takes  a  bit  longer  than 
Quill,  press  CTRL  C.  text17  is  EXECed,  not 
EXEC_Wed.  There  are  no  file  handling  features  as 
in  Quill.  This  is  partly  to  concentrate  on 
important  features  of  word  processing,  and  partly 


because  so  many  users  now  have  toolkits  or 
Taskmaster  or  whateever  that  handle  files  far 
better  than  Quill  does  and  it  doesn't  make  sense 
to  reinvent  the  wheel,  (text17  multi-tasks  just 
fine  under  QRAM  or  Taskmaster.) 

Some  function  keys  are  similar  to  those  used  in 
Quill.  F2  shows  the  cursor  status  and  the  current 
Ruler.  It  toggles  as  in  Quill.  F3  enters  the 
command  mode  and  a  main  menu  is  always  presented 
at  the  foot  of  the  screen. 

There  are  a  few  familiar  commands:  Goto,  Print, 
Search,  and  Zap  are  ones  you  already  know. 

There  is  Files,  but  its  purpose  is  very 
different.  No  load,  save,  margin,  tabs,  justify, 
footer,  header,  design,  etc.,  but  the  functions 
are  all  there  together  with  many  others. 

GOTO  goes  to  the  top  or  the  bottom  of  the  text, 
or  to  a  page  number,  as  well  as  first  page,  next 
page  and  top  of  current  page,  and  also  goes  to  a 
document  line  number  -  and  boy  does  it  get 
whereever  it  is  going  fast!  (Using  line  numbers 
is  tricky  because  you  have  to  know  where  you  are 
going  in  order  to  get  there.) 

PRINT  is  more  complex  than  in  Quill,  but  it's 
also  more  versatile.  It  will  print  a  selected 
range  of  pages  but  also  a  selected  range  of 
lines.  When  printing  text,  the  current  cursor 
position  is  the  default  line  numbef  for  the  first 
line  to  be  printed. 

This  command  also  defines  headers  and  footers 
(which  can  be  multi-lined),  and  the  printout  can 
be  right  justified  even  though  the  on-screen  text 
is  not. 

Among  other  neat  features  is  the  option  to  print 
alternate  pages.  Why?  You  might  want  to  print 
on  both  sides  of  a  sheet  of  paper,  but  have  the 
text  sequential.  Or  perhaps  page  numbering  needs 
to  be  at  the  outer  edge  of  a  page,  and  would 
require  a  different  footer  and/or  header  for  even 
numbered  pages  than  for  odd  numbered  pages. 

SEARCH  has  the  features  found  both  in  Search 
and  in  Replace  in  Quill  and  it's  a  lot  faster. 
Unlike  Quill,  which  starts  at  the  beginning  of  a 
file,  text17  searches  from  the  current  cursor 
position.  There's  an  option  for  Global  replace- 


3.7 


merit,  but  because  of  its  inherent  dangers,  it's 
is  only  offered  after  the  first  replacement. 
Search  is  case  specific,  meaning  it  ignores 
'HELLO'  if  you  ask  it  to  search  for  'Hello'. 
text17  remembers  the  prior  search  and/or  replace 
string  so  that  you  may  recall  it  and  edit  it  to 
search  for  a  modified  string. 

ZAP  has  both  the  document  Zapping  function  in 
Quill,  and  the  Quit,  and  goes  through  the  same 
verification  as  does  Quill. 


FILES  is  different  from  Files  in  Quill.  It 
handles  load,  save,  merge,  import  or  export. 
File  names  are  not  restricted  to  8  characters  as 
they  are  in  Quill.  They  may  be  of  any  length  and 
can  include  other  characters  not  permitted  in 
Quill  including  the  underbar. 

Saving  and  loading  assume  a  _T87  extension  and 
file  names  are  always  in  capitals  on  the  disk 
directory.  Save  is  not  as  polite  as  in  Quill.  It 
does  not  ask  permission  to  overwrite  a  file  of 
the  same  name.   It  just  does  it. 

Merging  inserts  a  _T87  document  at  the  cursor,  as 
in  Quill,  but  also  adds  any  Rulers  not  already  in 
the  document  to  the  table  of  Rulers. 

There's  the  choice  to  Export  in  ASCII  (like 
Printing  a  J  is  file  from  Quill  -but  making 
necessary  conversions  for  Tabs)  or  text17  format 
with  the  extension  _L87  (its  primary  purpose  is 
to  move  text  between  documents.) 

If  a  block  of  text  has  been  highlit,  only  the 
block  will  be  exported;  otherwise,  the  whole 
document  will  be  exported. 

(As  an  aside,  the  rapid  movement  of  the  cursor  in 
text17  makes  block  definition  seem  about  ten 
million  times  faster  than  in  Quill,  so  it  gets  to 
be  very  handy.) 

Import  offers  text*7  or  ASCII  or.  Quill  format. 
The  first  two  options  insert  the  imported  file  at 
the  cursor  position.  The  Quill  import  loads  a 
Quill  jioc  file  as  new  text,  and  preserves  all 
Quill  highlights,  converting  them  to  the  visual 
form  used  by  text17.  Tabs  and  end  of  paragraph 
markers  are  retained,  if  desired.  All-  import 
functions  are  very  quick  indeed. 


CURSOR  CONTROL  in  text*7  has  capabilities 
much  as  in  Quill,  but  does  a  lot  more.  It  adds 
the  ALT  key  for  greater  versatility.  SHIFT  and 
an  Up  or  Down  cursor  key  move  10  lines,  not  just 
a  paragraph.   Add  ALT  key  and  it  moves  40  lines. 

SHIFT  with  a  Left  or  Right  cursor  key  sends  the 
cursor  to  the  start  of  the  next  space,  not  after 
it,  as  in  Quill,  but  you  catch  on  fast. 

ALT  plus  a  Left  or  Right  cursor  key  takes  the 
cursor  to  the  start  or  end  of  the  current  line. 

Deleting  is  like  Quill,  except  that  the  ALT  key 
is  used  with  the  Left  and  Right  cursor  key  to 
remove  whole  lines. 

As  with  Quill,  there  is  a  separate  command  to 
delete  blocks  of  text. 

RULERs  are  not  found  in  Quill,  text11  includes 
Margin,  Tab,  Justify  and  some  Design  features  in 
one  command  called  Ruler,  but  there  is  a  learning 
curve  to  get  the  hang  of  using  rulers. 

The  Ruler  command  in  the  main  menu  is  used  to 
edit  and  select  rulers.  On  power  up  there  is  one 
default  ruler  (Ruler  0).  Multiple  rulers  can  be 
created  and  a  selected  ruler  can  be  inserted  at 
any  point  in  a  document.  Any  ruler  can  be  copied 
then  edited  into  a  new  ruler  up  to  11.5"  wide. 

The  special  feature  of  the  Ruler  Command  is  that 
its  parameters  are  all  in  absolute  units  of 
length  (tenths  of  an  inch  or. millimetres)  rather 
than  columns,  as  in  Quill.  This  means  that  text 
can  be  formatted  according  to  the  printer  pitch 
chosen  for  printing  a  specific  character  or 
characters . 

On  screen,  several  pitches  can  be  mixed  without 
effecting  the  layout.  Thus,  if  the  selected 
printer  font  is  double-wide,  text17  knows  to 
display  only  half  as  many  characters  per  line  as 
with  10  pitch  pica  and  10%  more  characters  will 
show  on  a  line  with  proportional  spacing.  This 
is  what  is  meant  by  WYSIWYG . 

The  ruler  tells  the  truth.  Occassional ly,  a 
combination  of  screen  fonts  may  force  a  line 
outside  the  limits  of  the  right  margin.  Do  not 
dismay,  text17  knows  what  it  is  doing  and  what 
gets  sent  to  the  printer  is  what  you  want  sent. 


3.8 


Rulers  are  saved  with  a  document  and  it's  vise  to 
have  a  special  file  with  a  number  of  favorite 
rulers  to  load  when  starting  a  new  document. 

Each  ruler  carries  a  range  of  information: 

Justification:  right  or  left.  (Actually,  the 
choice  is  to  justify  or  ignore,  on  the  grounds 
that  justify  means  right  justification.)  There's 
no  Center  Justification;  use  Center  Tab  instead. 

Line  spacing:  the  space  between  lines  can  be 
adjusted  to  fractions  of  an  inch.  The  default  is 
1/6  of  an  inch  (12/72  or  30/180,  depending  on  the 
printer)  but  can  be  modified  to  your  heart's 
content.  Thus  it  is  possible  to  have  double 
spaced  text  mixed  with  single  spaced  text, 
depending  on  the  selected  ruler. 

Margins:  left,  right  and  indent.  Indent  defaults 
to  left  margin,  but  may  be  designated  as  to  the 
right  where  the  first  left  tab  is  located  if  it 
is  automated  from  a  special  indent  feature  in  the 
Mode  command.  The  Indent  mark  itself  is 
exclusively  for  setting  Indent  to  the  left  of  the 
left  margin  to  create  a  hanging  paragraph. 

Selection:  only  one  ruler  at  a  time  is  active 
under  the  cursor.  A  ruler  is  selected  as  an 
option  from  the  Ruler  command.  (The  current 
ruler  is  shown  when  the  F2  key  is  toggled  on.) 
The  selected  ruler  is  inserted  at  the  cursor  when 
SHIFT  F5  is  pressed. 

Tab  stops:  left,  right,  center  and  decimal. 

Enough  already! 

The  next  article  in  this  series  will  explore 
block  handling  and  the  numerous  features  in" 
text11  that  make  screen  presentation  truely 
revolutionary. 

This  article  has  been  prepared  on  text1 1  mostly 
in  15  pitch  type.   Note  the  use  of  micro-kerning. 

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39 


3 


TS-2068  Programming  In  the  Abstract 

THE  STACK:  The  manipulation  of  the  STACK 
comes  under  the  heading  of  "where  only  fools  dare 
tread".  But  aren't  we  brave?  Look  at  it  this 
way,  "you  cannot  hurt  anything  by  trying,  so  why 
not?".  AND,  we  might  be  enlightened.  Key  in  the 
following  little  program  and  SAVE  it.  Then  we'll 
traipsie  through  the  stack  a  bit. 

10  FOR  H=25088  TO  24833  STEP  -1 

30  PRINT  n;"=";  PEEK  n;:  NEXT  n 

60  PRINT  "RETURN  Line=";  PEEK  25083+256*PEEK  25084 

•"Statement  t=";  PEEK  25085 

70  STOP:  GO  SUB  90 

90  STOP 

OK.  First  off,  we  will  look  at  what  we  can 
and  cannot  do  with  the  Stack  in  BASIC.  Timex 
intended  the  stack  to  be  "hidden  from  the  user". 
But  a  small  tydbyte  of  information  is  given  in  the 
user  manual,  page  255.  Take  a  minute  to  look  at 
the  sketch  in  figure  C-l.  The  little  program 
given  above  PEEKS  this  area.  The  Stack  is  the 
TS-2068' s  exclusive  "library"  of  "pending  things 
to  do".  If  <G0  SUB>  is  used  in  a  program  line, 
the  LINE  NUMBER  is  factored  into  a  16  bit  word  and 
that  word  is  stored  on  the  stack  at  address  25083 
and  25084.  Then  the  "next  statement  number"  in 
the  line  after  the  GO  SUB  is  stored  in  address 
25085. 

In  our  little  program,  the  GO  SUB  is  in  line 
170,  statement  2.  So,  if  allowed  to  execute,  the 
number  70  would  be  stored  in  address  25083.  Zero 
would  be  stored  in  25084,  and  3  would  be  put  in 
adr  25085.  Check  this  out  by  RUNNING  the  program. 
As  the  program  runs  the  contents  of  the  Stack 
addresses  will  be  printed  to  screen.  Somewhere  at 
around  address  25000,  a  train  of  zeroes  will 
print.  These  Zeroes  tell  us  the  "FREE  MEMORY" 
spaces  of  the  stack.  As  more  and  more  "library" 
items  are  placed  on  the  stack  there  will  be  few 
Zeroes  in  the  train.  These  "TS-2068  Library 
items"  are  put  on  the  stack  to  be  used,  and  once 
used  they  are  erased.  All  of  this  is  done  by  the 
internal  management  utilities  in  the  TS^-2068  ROM. 
BUT,  we  can  have  a  little  influence  on  things. 


When  the  program  runs  the  first  time,  a 
report  will  be  given.  This  "RETURN  LINE  I  and 
Statement  Nbr."  will  be  inaccurate.  This  is 
because  there  is  no  RETURN  placed  on  the  stack  at 
address  25083,  25084,  and  25085.  So,  ignore  the 
report  on  the  first  run.  The  program  will  STOP  at 
line  170.      When  it  does,  type  CONT  ENTER.  Then 


another  STOP  will  occur  at  line  90.  This  time 
DONT  do  anything  for  now.  Now  lets  look  at  what 
we  did. 

We  have  introduced  a  "piece  of  JUNK"  on  the 
stack,  because  we  did  not  use  <RETURN>  after  the 
<GO  SUB>.  But  in  this  case  we  do  it  intentionally 
in  order  to  see  the  RETURN  in  the  Stack.  After 
the  STOP  at  line  190,  type  GO  TO  10  ENTER.  Write 
down  the  numbers  given  for  address  25083,  25084, 
and  25085,  during  the  first  screen  full  of 
numbers.  Then  let  the  numbers  scroll  to  the  end. 
At  the  end  report  the  line  170  will  be  reported, 
with  statement  number  3.  So,  we  have  captured  the 
<GO  SUB  that  is  on  the  stack>.  AND  the  STOP  again 
occurs  at  line  170. 

Now  lets  work  a  bit  with  16  bit  numbers. 
First  add  LINE  I  2000  to  the  program,  add:  2000 
STOP.  What  is  the  16  bit  number  for  2000?  ans: 
2000/256=7.8125.  Drop  the  decimal  and  7  is  the 
msb  (most  significant  byte).  The  lsb  (less 
significant  byte)  is  gotten  by:  2000-7*256=208. 
So,  the  16  bit  number  of  2000  is  "208, 7\  Row  we 
will  CHANGE  the  line  number  for  the  RETURN  that  is 
on  the  stack.  POKE  25083, 208: POKE  25084, 7:POKE 
25085,0.  After  these  POKES,  Type  <RETURN  ENTER>. 
Note  the  STOP  at  line  12000.  Now  we  have  learned 
how  to  change  a  <RETURN>  on  the  stack  to  a 
different  line  number  in  a  basic  program,  but  WHY 
would  we  ever  want  to  do  that?* 

Well  I'll  give  you  a  small  example  and  you 
will  think  of  others.  Suppose  that  after  a  menu 
we  want  to  present  on  screen  the  data  contained  in 
A$.  But  if  A$  has  no  data,  we  want  the  program  to 
RETURN  to  a  different  program  line  than  contains 
the  GO  SUB.   I'll  construct  the  routine: 

500  (MENU  item  4  selected) 
510  IF  Z=4  THEN  GO  SUB  900 

900  IF  LEN  A$<1  THEN  POKE  25083,208:  POKE  25084,7: 
RETURN 

910  PRINT  A$:  RETURN 

2000  REM  Routine  to  use  if  A$  has  no  data. 


RULES:  You  must  have  a  GO  SUB  on  the  stack 
before  POKING  the  addresses  25083,  25084,  25085. 
Otherwise  you  CRASH.  So,  the  POKE  must  be  done 
AFTER  the  GO  SUB.  Dont  poke  other  Stack 
Addresses,  or  you'll  get  a  crash.  Oh  well,  what 
the  heck,  and  why  not? 

JUNKY  STACK:  If  you  want  to  find  out  how  fast  the  stack  can  be  completely  corrupted,  Remove  the 
Stop  at  line  70  and  change  line  190  to  read:  90  GO  TO  10.  Then  RUN.  One  of  the  pit-falls  of  using  <GO 
SUB>  is  that  BASIC  programs  can  be  broken  into.  Each  time  a  GO  SUB  routine  is  broken  into  three 
addresses  in  the  Stack  are  corrupted. 


n     „.„  USING  BASIC  STRING  /  ARRAYS  IN  MACHINE  CODE  PROGRAMS 

Dear  Bill,  ,  '        .  _ 

by  Charles  Bothner 

I  looked  over  your  letter  concerning  the  use  of  BASIC  variables 
and  arrays  inside  machine  code  programs. 

You  said  that  you  needed  to  locate  a  specific  variable  in  the 
BASIC  VARS  area  of  memory  in  order  to  use  the  data  in  a  machine 
code  program.  The  following  procedure  will  allow  the  transfer  of 
the  location  and  size  of  a  simple  variable  to  a  BASIC  program.  If 
you  want  to  locate  a  variable  which  has  not  been  fixed  in  size  by 
a  DIM  statement,  insert  the  following  lines  at  appropriate  line 
numbers  in  your  program: 

1000  POKE  23728,  CODE'^*' 

1010  LET  X=USR  23296:  REM  This  is  the  start  of  printer  buffer 
1020  LET  SIZE=PEEK  ( X+l ) +256*PEEK  (X+2) 
1030  LET  START=X+3 


Line  1000  puts  the  letter  code  for  the  variable  into  a  convenient 
storage  location,  in  this  case  into  an  unused  slot  in  the  normal 
system  variables  table.  Line  1010  accesses  the  machine  code  to 
locate  the  variable  address  in  memory.  In  this  case  I  have  put 
the  28  byte  routine  into  the  printer  buffer,  but  any  convenient 
location  could  be  used  since  the  code  is  completely  relocatable. 
On  return  from  the  MC  routine,  the  variable  X  contains  the 
address  of  the  identifier  for  the  W$  variable.  Line  1020  reads 
out  the  current  length  of  the  W$  variable  and  line  1030  gets  the 
starting  address  of  the  actual  characters  in  the  variable.  If 
desired,  these  values  may  be  POKEd  into  a  convenient  memory  loca- 
tion for  subsequent  access  by  whatever  MC  routine  you  intend  to 
use  to  manipulate  the  data.  Here  is  the  machine  code  which  lo- 
cates the  starting  address  of  the  W$  (or  any  other)  simple 
variable: 


ADDRESS  OPCODE  INSTRUCTION  COMMENTS 

5B00  3AB05C  LD  A, (5CB0)     Get  character  code 

5B03  CBAF  RES  5, A  Insure  upper  case  char. 

5B05  2A4B5C  LD  HL, ( 5C4B)  Get  VARS  area  address 

5B08  LOOP:  BE  CP  A, (HL)        Test  variable  identity 

5B09  280E  JR  Z,  FOUND    Jump  if  right  variable 

5B0B  FE80  CP  A,   80  Is  this  end  of  VARS  ? 

5B0D  2002  JR  NZ,   CONT     Continue  if  not  end 

5B0F  CF  RST  08  Error  return  otherwise 

5B10  01  VARIABLE  NOT  FOUND  message  ident. 


5B11      CONT:  23  INC  HL  Point  to  size  of  field 

5B12  5E  LD  E, (HL)  Get  size  of  variable 

5B13  23  INC  HL  field  size  into  DE 

5B14  56  LD  D, (HL) 

5gl5  23  INC  HL  Point  to  next  location 

5gl6  19  ADD  HL, DE  Point  to  next  variable 

5B17  18EF  JR,  LOOP  Test  this  variable 


5B19      FOUND:         E5  PUSH  HL  Get  the  address  into  BC 

5B1A  CI  POP  BC 

5B1B  C9  RET  Done 

This  routine  scans  the  entire  VARS  area  of  memory  until  the 
starting  address  of  the  specific  variable  storage  area  is  located 
or  until  the  end  of  the  VARS  area  is  reached,  at  which  time  there 
will  be  an  error  type  return.  This  will  happen  if  the  variable  W$ 
(or  any  other  simple  string  variable  which  is  being  searched  for) 
has  not  been  previously  assigned.  If  the  variable  has  been 
located,  then  the  address  is  returned  in  the  BC  register  pair. 
Line  1010  in  the  BASIC  code  above  will  assign  this  value  to  the 
variable  X  on  the  return  from  the  machine  code,  r  li 


If  a  search  for  a  fixed  dimension  string  array  is  desired,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  insert  the  following  assembly  code  bytes  be- 
tween the  addresses  5B04  and  5B05  in  the  routine  listed  above: 


It  will  be  necessary  to  modify  the  lines  of  BASIC  code  to  deter- 
mine the  actual  size  of  the  stored  character  field  in  the  array 
due  to  the  extra  data  bytes  stored  in  the  data  field  for  this 
type  of  variable  (see  page  258  of  the  TIMEX  2068  users  manual  for 
the  details).  Since  the  array  has  been  previously  dimensioned  in 
the  program  [e.g.  DIM  W$(40,256)],  we  can  determine  the  correct 
offset  by  taking  the  number  of  array  dimensions  (2  in  this  case) 
and  doubling  it,  then  adding  1  for  the  number  of  dimensions  byte 
in  the  variable's  data  field  and  subtracting  the  result  from  the 
data  obtained  in  line  1020  above. 

For  the  example  of  W$(40, 256)  the  changes  to  the  BASIC  lines  is 
as  follows: 

1020  LET  SIZE=  PEEK(X+1 ) +256*  PEEK(X+2)-( 1+2*  PEEK(X+3)) 
1030  LET  START=X+3+(l+2*  PEEK(X+3)) 

Obviously  the  terms  can  be  combined  to  shorten  the  lines  but  I 
left  all  the  terms  separate  to  clarify  (I  hope)  the  procedure  to 
locate  the  actual  starting  address  for  the  character  data  stored 
in  the  array  along  with  the  actual  length.  The  size  of  the  actual 
character  data  field  could  be  determined  in  this  case  by  simply 
multiplying  the  terms  in  the  DIM  statement.  It  is  better  to 
determine  the  size  on  the  fly  for  the  cases  where  the  array 
dimensions  may  be  determined  by  another  variable  instead  of  a 
fixed  value  [e.g.   DIM< 256,  Z ) ]  . 

I  hope  that  this  brief  explanation  will  give  you  an  idea  of  how 
to  operate  on  data  stored  in  the  VARS  area  by  either  BASIC  or 
machine  code  routines.  To  summarize,  the  transfer  of  data  from 
the  BASIC  program  to^the  machine  code  requires  the  POKEing  of  the 
data  into  memory  locations  where  it  can  be  accessed  by  the 
machine  code.  Transferring  of  a  single  character  or  numeric 
(integer)  value  from  the  machine  code  to  the  BASIC  program  may  be 
accomplished  by  loading  the  data  into  the  BC  register  pair  prior 
to  the  return  from  the  machine  code. 

If  this  information  is  not  what  you  really  wanted  or  if  addi- 
tional* clarification  is  needed,  please  let  me  know. 


C680 


ADD  A,  80H 


Converts  to  proper  type 
of  dimensioned  array 
identifier 


best  regards, 


Chuck  Bothner 


42 


At  Feng  txaaMuuin.  04  the.  Chicago  TSUG  (CATSUG) 
and  an  expert  pnx>gnarrmiA.  oj  the.  Sinctaln.  QL.  At 
takeA  time,  owt  4*x>m  hU>  uniting  4ot  "Nlghtime, 
NeM6" ,  the.  CATSUG  NetaUtetteA.,  to  give,  <jU 
intoAmubion,  on  thruee.  interesting  ^aojzcti. 

QDOS  RCH  Code 

By  Al  Feng 

Most  Sinclair  QL  users  in  North  America  are 
already  aware  that  the  Operating  System  (OS)  in 
their  computer  is  called  QDOS  (i.e.,  QL  Disk 
Operating  System) .  This  may  seem  as  a  bit  of  a 
misnomer  since  the  QL  comes  with  microdrives  for 
storage;  and,  all  disk  drive  interfaces  are  third 
party!  In  fact,  QDOS  allows  (i.e.,  "forces")  you 
to  select  the  device  being  addressed  by  the  user 
(e.g.,  'mdv.l_' ,  'flpl_',  'raml_',  'winl_' ). 
Clearly,  either  Sinclair  Research  Ltd.  or  Tony 
Tebby  realized  that  Uncle  Olive's  microdrives  may 
NOT  be  the  ultimate  storage  device. 

For  those  who  are  not  overly  familiar  with  the 
inner  workings  of  their  QLs,  the  difference 
between  "British"  and  "North  American"  QLs 
involves  more  than  BT  (British  Telephone) 
connectors  vs.  "D"  connectors.  In  addition  to 
evolution  in  the  PCB  (Printed  Circuit  Board) 
layout  (i.e.,  the  hardware),  various  versions  of 
the  QDOS  were  released  (i.e.,  the  firmware). 

Not  knowing  which  QDOS  version  you  are  running  is 
generally  not  a  handicap  or  inconvience.  For 
practical  purposes,  a  QL  with  an  'AH'  ROM  will 
run  the  QUILL  word  processor  as  well  as  one  with 
an  'MG'  ROM.  The  transparent  difference  is 
predominantly  in  the  ERROR  handling  (i.e.,  the 
user  usually  doesn't  see  it). 

To  find  out  what  version  QDOS  your  QL  is  running 
(all  QLs  made  by  SAMSUNG  ELECTRONICS  COMPANY  Ltd. 
in  Korea  have  'JSU'  ROMs)  type: 


PRINT  VERS 


<ENTER> 


There  are  only  a  couple  of  reasons  to  know  what 
QDOS  ROM  code  your  QL  has.  The  primary  one  is  to 
satisfy  your  curiousity.  The  second  is  if  you 
are  running  some  programs  (e.g.,  compilers  which 
depend  on  EXTENSIONS  to  QDOS).  Often  times,  a 
"patch"  is  included  to  compensate  for 
incompatibilities  in  the  earlier  code,  so  the 
versions  still  doesn't  matter! 

Okay,  what  do  those  designations  mean?  Does  the 
'AH*  designation  mean  that  they  think  they 
finally  got  it  to  a  satisfactory  point  ["AHhhh"]? 
Does  the  'MG'  designation  refer  to  the  Morris 
Garage  vehicles?  Who  can  say  for  sure  except  the 
person/ people  who  chose  the  designations!  After 
all,  the  "GW"  in  'GW-BASIC'  stands  for  "GEE  WHIZ" 
(No  kidding!). 

A  half  dozen  years  ago,  I  asked  my  brother  (an 
IBM  PC  user)  why  PC-DOS  (the  IBM  "specific" 
version  of  MS-DOS)  had  to  be  LOADed  via  software 
rather  than  being  a  permanent  part  of  the  system 
(that  is,  as  firmware  on  a  ROM  or  EFROM) .  In 
fact,  I  asked  a  lot  of  "almost  stupid"  questions 
back  then.      To    make    a    long    story    short,  he 


replied  that  the  Disk  Operating  System  (DOS)  was 
loaded  as  software  so  they  (Microsoft,  in  this 
case)  could  implement  any  subsequent  changes  to 
the  code  more  easily. 

At  the  time,  the  idea  of  changing  the  code  didn't 
makes  sense.  After  all,  why  re-write  code  if  it 
was  written  correctly  the  first  time!  Okay,  my 
computer  experience  was  limited  at  the  time,  and 
I  was  a  bit  naive  about  programming;  but,  I  know 
someone  who  thinks  that  the  ABACUS  Spread  Sheet 
programmers  should  have  been  able  to  write  the 
program  in  about  10K  (yes,  'ten')! 

Among  the  "almost  stupid"  questions  I  asked  was 
with  regard  to  the  differences  (if  any)  between 
DOS  2.0  and  DOS  2.1.  But,  I  digress.  Very 
simply,  a  change  in  the  integer  represents  a 
"major"  change  to  the  code,  while  "minor"  changes 
are  represented  by  variances  in  the  decimal  or 
hundredths  place.  In  theory,  higher  numbers 
indicate  improved  code  (as  with  ERROR  trapping). 
Latter  versions  generally  have  "improved"  code 
(i.e.,  more  ERROR  trapping). 

If  you  will  make  the  allowance  for  a  comparison 
between  the  exceedingly  crude  DOS  1.0  for  the 
INTEL  8088/8086  chip  series  [e.g.,  CLS  (CLear 
Screen)  was  not  included]  and  the  very  earliest 
QLs  which  had  a  "dongle"  (as  the  Brits  apparently 
refer  to  it)  on  the  backside  of  the  QL  then  from 
my  reckoning  and  recollection  there  are  rough 
analogues  which  one  can  make  between  MS-DOS 
(Microsoft  DOS)  and  QDOS. 

Sinclair  Research  Ltd.  (or,  Tony  Tebby)  chose  to 
use  an  alphabetic  system  for  labelling.  Just  as 
there  were  various  MS-DOS  versions,  so  there  are 
various  QDOS  versions.  For  example,  we  may 
compare: 

—  [  QDOS  ]—  —  [  MS-DOS  /  PC-DOS  ]  — 

AH  2.1 
JS  3.30 
MGUK  4.00 

QDOS  is  resident  in  the  QL  when  the  computer  is 
powered  on  because  the  code  is  contained  on  two 
socketed  ROM  chips.  Several  years  ago,  Tom  Bent 
designed  a  small  PCB  which  utilized  a  27C512 
EFROM  which  could  substitute  for  the  two  ROM 
chips  (see  QUANTUM  LEVELS  1:6  for  schematic).  A 
big  plus  to  Tom  Bent's  design  is  that  it  lets 
your  QL  run  cooler. 

The  'J'  series  is  probably  the  most  predominant. 
The  'JM'  &  ' JS'  are  the  two  most  prevalent 
versions  still  being  sold  in  the  UK.  The  'JSU' 
ROM  is  the  same  as  the  'JS'  ROM  with  the 
exception  of  the  size  of  the  video  scan  when  in 
TV  mode.  The  'JSU'  ROM  accomodates  the  lower 
resolution  of  NTSC  televisions  than  the  British 
PAL  televisions  generate  (512x212  vs.  512x256). 

Since  the  TV-mode  on  all  the  "British"  RCMs 
generate  a  screen  having  the  same  dimension  as 
the  monitor  display,  the  apparent  difference  is 
that  initializing  with  'F2'  should  allow 
generation  of  eight  colors  rather  than  four 
[unfortunately,  I    forgot  to    verify  this    when  I 


43 


had  temporary  access  to  an  RGB  monitor]. 

Programs  can  "sense"  which  mode  the  computer  is 
in  by  PEEKing  address  163890.  In  monitor-mode, 
the  value  returned  will  be  '0*.  On  all  "British" 
ROMs  in  TV-mode  the  value  returned  should  be  '1'. 
On  the  'JSU'  ROM  and  the  "rogue"  'MGSJ'  ROM, 
PEEKing  this  address  when  in  TV-mode  should 
return  a  value/of  '2'. 

Just  as  there/  are  improvements  to  Microsoft's  DOS 
version  4.nn/,  so  too  are  there  improvements  to 
the  'M*  series  ROM.  Unfortunately,  the  price  of 
improvement  may  be  incompatibility  with  code 
which  is  LBYTEd/LRESPRed.  The  conflict  / 
compatibility  varies  with  the  code.  For  example, 
early  (all?)  versions  of  4MATTER  will  not  run  on 
a  QL  having  an  'MGUK'  ROM.  Code  which  is 
"automatically"  initialized  on  a  'J'  series  ROM 
(such  as  SPEEDSCREEN  RAM  code)  must  be  further 
beckoned  with  the  'M'  series  ROM  code. 

It  has  been  reported  that  Digital  Precision's  IBM 
emulator  would  not  run  on  a  QL  having  *MG*  code. 
Details  are  not  complete;  and,  I  suspect  he  may 
have  the  'MGSJ*  code  as  I  have  personally  seen 
THE  SOLUTION  running  on  an  'MGUK'  ROM.  (Ed  note.: 
My  MGUK  ROM  QL  {inMalled  by  Tom  Bent)  nun*  both. 
Solution*  and  PC  Conquenon)  In  theory,  the 
'MGSJ'  code  incorporates  the  NTSC  television 
screen  scan  with. the  rest  of  the  'MG'  code.  This 
may  or  may  not  be  a  consideration. 

Those  of  you  familiar  with  MS-DOS  will  find  a 
comparison  between  the  'MGUK'  ROM  and  DOS  4.00 
appropriate.  It  seems  that  enough  nuisances  were 
unintentionally  written  into  the  'MO'  code  that 
it  probably  makes  the  more  familiar  'J'  series 
the  code  of  choice  (my  opinion). 

Just  as  "other"  DOS  exists  for  IBM  compatible 
computers  (e.g.,  WENDLIN-DOS) ,  there  are  "proven" 
alternatives  to  QDOS.  The  first  of  these  is 
'  ARGOS'  code  which  is  used  by  CST  (defunct 
Cambridge  Systems  Technology)  on  their  THOR 
computers  [DANSOFT  is  marketing  the  THOR,  but 
reports  suggest  that  they  are  NOT  shipping].  The 
second  is  'MINERVA*  by  QVIER. 

'ARGOS'  is  apparently  QDOS  which  has  been  tweaked 
to  support  the  THOR's  hardware.  It  may  NOT  be 
hardware  compatible  with  the  QL. 
Unlike  'ARGOS',  .''MINERVA'  code  was  apparently 
reverse-engineered  to  accomplish  the  same 
functions  as  the  QDOS  code.  The  resulting  code 
is  supposed  to  be  superior  in  speed,  particularly 
in  the  screen  handling  routines.  As  of 
mid-March,  'MINERVA*  is  only  available  directly 
from  QVIEW  (in  England). 

If  you're  thinking  of  replacing  your  QDOS  ROM 
code,  I  recomnend  that  you  consider  waiting  for 
'MINERVA'  code  to  become  available.  If  you  can't 
wait,  then  opt  for  the  'JS'  code;  after  all, 
*JSU'  code  is  available  on  your  "spare"  QL  when 
don't  have  a  monitor. 

HAPPY  TRAILS,  AND  COMPUTING,  TO  YOU!  Al  Feng. 

Ed  Note*:  At  touched  upon  the.  main  dl44enence.  In 
design   o4  QDOS   and  MS-DOS,    which  I*:     QDOS  li 


permanent  in  ROM  white,  each.  MS-DOS  utility  nut 
be.  "loaded  ptom  dl*k  to  HAM"  to  operate..  Thene 
oaa.  advantage*  to  both,  method*.  At  mentioned  the. 
advantage  o4  MS-DOS  being  that  It  eon  be  changed 
easily  by  AAcaxdlng  another.  DOS  ven*lon  on.  floppy 
dl*k.  The.  advantage  o4  QDOS  being  In  ROM  li  that 
lt6  junctions  one  "already  In  memony"  and  thu*  I* 
iaMen  (given  the.  *ame  clock  *peed  and  ejjiciencj/ 
o4  operation) .  f  have  o4ten  wondened  why  *ome 
4imnt  de*lgnen  hain't  made  u*e  o4  "EEPROM"  to 
*tone  a  DOS.  ELECT  I C ALLY  ERASABLE  PROM*  have  the 
ability  to  be  written  to  by  the  compute*,  (about  3 
million  time*  4on  each,  memoxjy  addne**) .  That 
*hould  be  *u44lcient  4a*  a*  many  DOS  ven*ion 
Ae.-wnlte*  a*  needed,  wouldn't  you  think.? 


Ed  Gwi  EWevtU£4,  fO  Box  Vtt, 

Englewood,  CA  90305  was  to  send  in  an 
advertisement  of  his  wares.  I'm  sure 
that  Ed  will  kick  himself  in  the  britches 
when  he  realizes  that  he  missed  the  boat. 
Instead  of  using  one  of  his  old  ads,  I'll 
just  make  some  comments.  Ed  Grey  carries 
a  whole  line  of  TS-2068  support  items  and 
runs  a  West  Coast  USA  BBS  called  "The. 
Gtey  Molten".  His  Telephone  number  for 
ordering  software  and  hardware  support 
items  is  213-759-7406.  The  BBS  telephone 
is:  (213-971-6260).  This  BBS  is  one  of 
the  most  informative  and  the  most  used  by 
Sinclair  Timex  users.  If  you  want  to 
talk  to  an  enthusiastic  Sinclair  Timex 
person,  call  Ed.  If  you  want  to  find  out 
what  goes  on  in  Sinclair  Timex  Computing, 
^_  Call  the  BBS  (with  your  computer).  r 


kk 


This  DPDRTE  Issue: 


find  Others  Ahead: 


The  problem  with  this  issue  was  the 
DECISIONS  about  what  to  include!  The 
articles  were  selected  from  about  two 
issues  worth  of  excellent  material  given 
freely  by  your  fellow  Sinclair  Timex 
users.  Your  thanks  should  go  to  the 
authors,  not  to  yours  truly. 

There  several  other  excellent  articles 
about  the  QL  and  TS-2068  that  are 
awaiting  space  in  the  magazine.  They 
aren't  "culls",  but  are  of  a  length  that 
just  couldn't  be  included  in  this  issue. 

FRANK  DAVIS,  your  new  publisher  will 
need  this  same  outstanding  support  from 
the  writers  in  order  to  continue  the 
depth  of  coverage  that  has  been  a 
tradition  with  Update  Magazine.  I  feel 
sure  that  all  of  our  outstanding  writers 
will  continue  to  support  the  users 
through  the  pages  of  Update.  


You  have  ONE  more\J 
issue  of  your  subscription  coming  (July). 
Frank  Davis,  the  new  publisher,  needs  to 
build  his  1991  subscriber  list  and  needs 
to  have  as  many  early  subscribers  as 
possible  for  his  planning.  Plea*e  *end 
youn  $18.00  *ub*cnljptlon  nenewal  to: 

DftVIS,  PO  BOX  1095,  FTO,  IH  46970. 


^1 


A   PRIM    FOR  USING    A  QL-MUTILATOR 

by  Al  Feng 

Okay.  Just  kidding.  We'll  discuss  MS-DOS 

with  the  QL  instead.  But,  after  hearing  "all" 
those  bad  things  about  MS-DOS  (Microsoft's  Disk 
Operating  System  for  IBM  compatible  computers) 
one  can  only  presume  that  running  a  SINCLAIR  QL 
in  emulation  mode  has  to  be  a  mutilation  of  the 
QDOS  operating  system.  One  would  like  to  think 
that  it  wouldn't  happen;  but,  the  price  of 
software  emulation  code  is  still  less  than  an 
MS-DOS  compatible  computer. 

The  following  isn't  going  to  be  a  discourse  about 
whether  you  should  be  using  an  emulator  on  your 
QL.  Only  you  know  whether  there  is  a  need  "at 
home"  for  MS-DOS  compatibility;  and,  if  an 
emulator  is  going  to  be  a  satisfactory  route. 

The  following  is  going  to  tell  you  how  to 
overcome  some  of  the  conceptual  inconveniences  of 
MS-DOS  whether  on  a  QL,  or  on  an  MS-DOS  specific 
computer . 

The  first  thing  you  have  to  know  is  that  drives 
are  described  alphabetically  rather  than 
numerically.  Thus,  a  drive  may  be  labelled  'A' 
through  'Z'.  The  Operating  System  (OS)  knows  you 
are  describing  a  drive  because  a  colon  (:)  is 
used  as  a  delimiter  immediately  after  the  letter. 
The  reason  for  this  is  because  a  file  may  be 
named  'A. BAT',  'A. COM'  or  'A. EXE'  and  be 
otherwise  executed  if  you  simply  INPUT  'A' 
followed  by  the  '<ENTER>'  key.  QDOS  uses  an 
underscore  ('_' )  as  the  general  delimiter.  Thus: 

A:  ==  flpl_ 
B:  ==  flp2_ 
The  major  difference  is  that  QDOS  allows/forces 
you  to  describe  the  physical /virtual  device  being 
addressed.  On  the  other  hand,  MS-DOS  assigns 
labels  on  a  "logical"  basis  unless  otherwise 
specified  (some  rules  do  apply) . 

On  an  MS-DOS  system,  if  you  have  two  floppy 
drives,  they  are  'A:'  and  'B:'.  If  you  have  a 
hard  drive,  it  is  'C:'.  If  you  have  one  floppy 
drive  and  a  hard  drive,  the  latter  is  still  'C: ' 
(I  told  you,  some  rules  apply).  If  you  have  two 
floppies,  no  hard  drive,  and  have  set  up  a  ram 
drive,  then  the  ram  drive  becomes  'C:'.  If  you 
have  two  floppies,  a  hard  drive,  and  a  ram  drive, 
then  the  ram  drive  becomes  'D: ' . 

Ram  drives  are  static  and  are  configured  during 
BOOT-up  via  the  CONFIG.SYS. 

Even  if  you  have  a  limited  amount  of  overall  ram 
in  your  system,  but  more  than  384K,  then  you 
should  seriously  consider  setting  up  a  small  ram 
disk  on  your  mutiliated  QL,  laptop,  or  early  PC. 
A  48K  drive  is  sufficient  for  DOS  3.nn  and  72K 
for  DOS  4.nn. 

An  example  of  a  CONFIG.SYS  for  DOS  3.nn  where  the 
size  of  the  ramdrive  is  indicated  by  the  number 
following  the  "device="  statement  (in  this  case 
'48K'): 


buffers=15 
files=30 
device=ansi .sys 
device=vdisk.sys  48 

Unfortunately,  the  boys-and-girls  at  Microsoft 
are  sloppy  coders  (Captain  Midnight  would  not  be 
happy),  and  the  same  files  in  DOS  4.nn  tend  to  be 
larger  than  in  DOS  3.nn.  For  DOS  4.nn  your 
CONFIG.SYS  file  will  be  similar  to  the  following 
(note  the  name  change  from  VDISK  to  RAMDRIVE) : 

buf fers=15 
files=30 

device= ramdrive. sys  72 

Okay,  48K  is  an  awfully  small  ram  disk.  What  are 
we  going  to  put  in  it  (and,  why?)?  There  are  two 
files  which  should  be  transferred  to  a  ramdrive 
regardless  of  the  size  and  speed  of  the  system 
being  used  (this  includes  AT  classs  machines). 
The  first  is  C0MMAND.COM  and  the  other  is 
F0RMAT.COM. 

As  these  files  were  designed,  they  are  what  are 
referred  to  as  external  DOS  corrmands.  An 
external  command  is  not  retained  in  the  systems 
memory.  This  is  because  DOS  was  originally 
designed  to  run  on  a  machine  with  as  little  as 
16K  of  memory. 

^/o^^^or^t1^^^  nnvmnd^¥mm^ 

considered  task  oriented.  After  a  program  is 
LOADed,  DOS  dumps  the  C0MMAND.COM  from  memory, 
and  brings  it  back  when  the  program  is  quit. 
This  is  why  you  may  see  a  message  which  instructs 
you  to  "replace  disk  with  CCMMAND.COM  in  drive 
A:".  This  can  be  circumvented  by  using  the 
statement : 

set  comspec=c: command. com 

where  'c:'  is  the  location  where  the  CCMMAND.COM 
can  be  found  (in  this  case  a  ramdrive  . . .  adjust 
accordingly).  This  can  be  indicated  in  a  line  in 
the  AUTOEXEC.BAT. 

While  COMMAND.COM  is  always  necessary,  FORMAT. COM 
is  not.  It  is,  however  infrequent  a  task, 
especially  inconvenient  (i.e.,  "slow")  to  have 
F0RMAT.COM  load  from  a  disk  rather  being 
resident.  By  transferring  an  appropriate 
F0RMAT.COM  to  a  ramdrive,  you  have  turned  it  into 
an  almost-internal  command 

(using  F0RMAT.COM  will  be  discussed  later).  An 
example  of  a  true  internal  DOS  command  is  COPY. 

An  example  of  your  AUTOEXEC.BAT  should  be  similar 
to  one  of  the  two  following  examples: 

@ECHO  OFF 

PATH  A: 

PROMPT  $P$G 

copy  format.com  c: 

copy  command.com  c: 

set  comspec=c : command . com 

copy  dr.com  c: 

copy  free.com  c: 

c: 


45' 


OR, 


@ECHO  OFF 

PATH  A: 

PROMPT  $P$G 

copy  fonrat.com  c: 

copy  comnand.com  c: 

set  comspec=c: comnand.com 

copy  dr.com  c: 

c: 

If  you  need  M0DE.COM,  then  include  it  as  a  line 
of  your  AUTOEXEC  file. 

FREE.COM  is  from  the  first  PC  MAGAZINE  Utility 
disk.  DR.COM  was  a  freebie  from  PC/COMPUTING 
magazine. 

FREE.COM  tell  you  how  much  "free"  space  is  left 
on  a  disk.  This  sounds,  well,  stupid.  But,  if 
you  have  blank,  FORMATted  disks  without  files, 
you  cannot  determine  the  size  with  the  DIR 
command.  In  these  instances,  FREE.COM  will  let 
you  determine  if  it  is  a  360K  or  720K  disk: 

C:>    FREE  B: 

DR.COM  (actually  DIRMAGIC.COM)  is  a  convenient 
front  end  program  which  was  distributed  "free"  if 
you  subscribed  to  PC/COMPUTING.  It  allows  you  to 
COPY/DELETE/RENAME/VIEW/ etc.  from  a  dynamic  menu. 

ETREE.COM  and  DR.COM  are  freeware  (vs.  shareware) 
programs  which  are  supposed  to  be  avail ble  on 
various  bulletin  boards.  You  can  probably  get  a 
copy  of  these  two  files  from  Bill  if  you  send  him 
a  few  of  dollars  (?)  to  cover 
media/packaging/postage  and  tell  him  which  disk 
format  (720K  or  360K)  you  need. 

The  reason  the  example  of  the  AUTOEXEC.BAT  above 
ends  with  a  'C: '  statement  is  that  a  lot  of 
activity  can  be  initiated  from  the  'C: '  drive: 

C:>    COPY  A:*.*  B: 
is  the  same  as:    WCOFY  flpl_  to  flp2_ 
Compare:  C:>    COPY  A:DR.COM  B: 

A:>    COPY  DR.COM  B: 

B:>    COPY  A:DR.COM 

to:        COPY  flpl_J3R_CCM  TO  flp2_DR_COM 

Also  compare: 

C:>    COPY  A:DR.COM  B: DIRMAGIC.COM 

to:  COPY  flpl_DR_COM  TO  f lp2_DIRMAGIC_0CM 

The  syntax  of  a  DOS  statement  is  clearly  more 
compact  since  the  current  "path"  can  be  implicit 
in  the  statement.  Working  from  a  "C:>"  prompt  is 
similar  enough  to  working  with  a  comrand  cursor 
in  "WINDOWfO"  that  you  can  consider  performing 
general  file  management  from  this  drive. 

Similarly,  if  you  want  to  delete  a  file  you  would 
use  the  DEL  statement: 


C:>    DEL  A:DR.COM 
A:>    DEL  DR.COM 
B:>    DEL  A:DR.COM 
to:  DELETE  flpl_DR_COM 

If  you  are  going  to  LOAD  an  application 
(program),  then  INPUT  the  drive  designation 
followed  by  ' <ENTER> ' ;  and,  then  the  file  name. 
For  example: 

C:>    A:  <ENTER> 

A:>  QUILL 

The  syntax  for  F0RMAT.COM  with  an  emulator  is 
similar  to  the  FREE.COM  utility: 


C:>  FORMAT  B: 

and,  B:>  C: FORMAT 

OR:  C:>  FORMAT  A: 

and,  A:>  C:FORMAT 


With  the  emulating  QL  the  density  is  determined 
by  the  emulating  code.  There  are  conditions 
which  may  be  needed  if  'you  wish  to  FORMAT  to  a 
density  other  than  the  drive's  normal 
specification. 

UH-oh.  Was  mention  made  of  how  to  construct  your 
AUTOEXEC.BAT  and  CONFIG.SYS  files?  Yikes.  The 
MS-  [Masochistic  &  Sadistic]  method  is  for  you  to 
use  EDLIN!  If  you  can  get  a  copy  of  DR.DOS's 
(Digital  Research's  DOS)  EDITOR.EXE  then  you  will 
have  an  easy-to-use  line  editor.  If  not  then  use 
ANY  word  processor: 

Set  the  left  margin  to  zero  ('0'); 

the  upper  and  lower  margins  to  zero;  and, 

ensure  that  there  is  no  header  or  footer. 

Next,  transcribe  the  appropriate  example(s)  as 
individual  lines  of  text.  SAVE  each  individually 
as  an  appropriately  named  ASCII  file.  Transfer 
the  file  to  your  DOS  disk. 

That's  about  all  you  really  need  know  to  be 
functional  on  the  precarious,  MS-DOS  iceberg. 

HAPPY  TRAILS,  AND  COMPUTING,  TO  YOU.    Al  Feng 


TOE  PU  LIBRARIAN  FOR  NORffl  AMERICA? 

Will  the  active  QUANTA  LIBRARIAN  please  get 
in  touch  with  Update  Magazine.  Why?  Well, 
I'd  like  to  help  publicise  this  fantastic 
group  of  programs  and  utilities.  I  have  had 
the  first  15  Quanta  Library  Disks  for  about  a 
year.  There  hasn't  been  much  published  about 
the  utility  of  this  good  library  or  how  the 
users  can  get  the  disks.  Perhaps  there  are 
enough  interested  subscribers  to  form  a  Quanta 
Group  in  North  America?   Update  will  help. 


46 


THE  NEWS  HERALD,  Panama  City,  Fla., 


THE  CANADIAN  REPORT  

Kanadian  fonetik  langwaje 

TORONTO,  Canada  (KNT)  —  Like  a  solitary  savior  striving  to 
rescue  the  illiterate  from  the  flummadiddle  and  kerfuffle  of  the 
English  language,  Ted  Culp  envisions  "that  gloreus  day  all  ling- 
gwistic  owtrajes  wil  end!" 

At  that  inevitable  moment  when  English  collapses  under  the 
weight  of  its  confusing,  irrational  structure,  Culp  says  he'll  be  ready 
with  the  Canadian  "langwaje,"  a  sane  replacement  for  the  "gar- 
bage" that  annoys  people  and  produces  illiteracy. 

"As  this  inferior  langwaje  iz  displased  everywhere  ...  illiterasi 
shud  disapeer  completely,"  wrote  Culp,  the  meticulous  publisher  of 
the  Times  Ov  Toronto,  and  a  teacher  and  ardent  proponent  of  simpli- 
fying a  language  that  drives  him  nuts. 

In  a  multiethnic  country  where  combat  over  language  could 
qualify  as  a  national  pastime,  many  view  a  phonetic  type  spelling  of 
English  as  laughable  or  an  uncomfortable  reminder  that  some  real- 
ly spell  like  this. 

Others  view  Cuip's  changes  as  an  assault  on  the  Queen's  English. 
After  all,  many  loyal  Canadians  still  sing  God  Save  the  Queen. 

But  this  is  no  joke  to  Culp.  He  is  dead  serious  —  rather,  "ded 
serius"  —  and  he  speaks  passionately  about  the  foibles  of  language. 

He  has  reduced  the  alphabet  to  25  letters  —  eliminating  "q—  and 
says  other  changes  will  be  necessary  to  reform  the  world's  second 
most  popular  language.  But  changes  can't  come  quickly,  he  warns, 
or  they  won't  be  accepted. 

Changing  "city"  to  "siti"  —  eliminating  the  soft  "c"  and  replacing 
it  with  "s"  —  will  be  accepted,  he  said,  but  replacing  the  hard  "c" 
with  a  "k"  will  be  tough  because  that  would  produce  0  Kanada. 

Culp  resists  the  temptation  to  teach  the  Canadian  "langwaje"  to 
his  high  school  students,  but  does  not  hesitate  to  point  out  the  pro- 
blems with  English.  ' 

"It  wil  spred  arownd  the  wurld,"  Culp  says.  "It  wil  triumf." 


Ed  note:    Now  thars  a  Cannuck  thet  nos  wot  hez 
talken  bout!    Ether  thet  er  ole  George  hez  ben 
let  en  him  reed  hiz  kopi  uv  Update  Magazine.  He 
bet  thets  whut  hapend,  nunthles  hez  on  mi  band- 
wagun.    We  gota  dew  sumthin  fore  th  kids  an  thar 
rap  talk  taks  ovr  fer  sur.  -BJ_ 


lie  News 


IS 


BND  UE 'RE  SPREADING  IT! 

RMG  if  adding  so  Many  NEW  And 
EXCITING  ITEMS  to  our  lint  that 
our  t tortro.OM  art  BUtGINff?  Wt 
havt  adtftd  iort  that  25  "NEW  PAGES 
and  changtd  ovtr  20  othtrj  in  our 
BIG  <10*  M9t  catalog.  Wt  wan  Fit 
■akt  surt  that  you  do  'riot  Mi-ss  out 
on  anuthin9  wt  May  bt  ablt  to  htlp 

you  with  in  your  computing.'* 
If  you  will  ttnd  uf  *3.ff0  you  will 
Ctctivt  our  , catalog /i^th  a  *3  off 
coupon,  for  your  ftTft  ordtr*.  AND* 
ttnd  along  12  buslntis  sizt  SASEf 
and  you  wil)  rtctivt  12  Monthly 
updattt  and  spt.cial  Mailings.  $3 
discount  coupon  in  first  Mailing! 


RMG  ENTERPRISES 

l HI*  1/2  71 H  STREET 
OREGON  CITY i  OREGON  ?70U3 
303/453-7M8U.  §  NOONMO  WE-SAT 


IE 


PLATYPUS 


SoT  tucire      QL  to  PC  file  transfers 


SPREADSHEET  [text  i  valid  formulas  /  some  functions  do  not  transfer  to  LOTUS  (e.g.,  aslct  &  askn)]: 
QL- ABACUS  to: 


PC-ABACUS 
LOTUS  1-2-3 


1.60  /  screen 
1.80  /  screen 


QL-QUILL  to: 


PC-ASCII. TXT 

PC-qUILL 

WordPerfect 


base      2.50  /  25  lln 
base  *■  3-00  /  page 
base  *  5.00  /  page 


The  "base"  fee  is: 


$5.00  for  the  1st  file, 
$1.00  for  the  2nd  rile, 
$3.00  for  the  3rd  rile, 
$2.00  Tor  the  Uth  file, 
$1.00  for  each  subsequent  file. 


A  "screen"  is  defined  as:     20  rows  x  8  cols. 

A  half-screen  is:     10  rows  x  8  cols. 
A  quarter-screen  is:      5  rows  x  8  cols. 


A  "page"  is  defined  as:     30  lines  maximum  x  80  columns  (or,  about  300  words). 
Partial  pages  will  be  rated  at  $0.10  per  line  in  QUILL  and  $0.15  In  WordPerfect. 
A  quarter-screen  minimum  Increment  for  spreadsheets. 

PLEASE  NOTE:    The  new  file(s)  will  be  supplied  on  a  3-5"  720K  disk. 

If  you  need  a  5-25"  36OK  disk,  then  please  supply  a  labelled,  pre-formatted  36OK 
disk  along  with  any  original  media.     If  you  send  microcartrldges ,  please  ensure 
that  they  are  of  high  quality  AND  that  you  retain  backup  copies  during  the  Interim. 

Of  course,  any  original  media  (disks/microcarts)  will  be  returned. 

If  you  have  other  needs,  please  enquire:        AL  FENO 

15  Wake  Robin  Court 

Woodridge,   IL    60517  h  7/ 

(708)  971-0495  ^  ' ' 


THE  QL  ISSUE  DISK  PROGRAM 

And  how  goes  it,  QL? 

The  issue  disk  program  is  designed  to 
give  publicity  to  the  programmers  who  are 
working  for  us  and  to  put  the  Author  into 
direct  contact  with  the  users.  Normally, 
an  issue  disk  title  is  offered  in  a  couple 
of  issues  of  the  magazine  and  then  rotated 
out.  This  introduces  the  programmer  to  the 
users  and  establishes  rapport  between  them. 
The  programs  in  the  issue  disk  belong  to 
the  authors.  Update' s  only  involvement  is 
in  their  early  distribution  "at 
introductory  prices". 

NOTICE  that  Bill  Cable  (Wood  and  Wind 
Computing)  now  has  the  capability  of 
providing  his  software  on  both  5  1/4"  and  3 
1/2"  disks  (and  microdrive  cart).  See  his 
ad  else-  where  in  this  issue.  Also  NOTICE 
the  ad  by  AL  FENG  (Platypus  Software). 
Both  of  these  authors  are  producing 
software  for  the  QL  and  IBM  systems. 

Other  North  American  software  authors 
will  be  introduced  to  the  users  as  they 
come  aboard.  The  issue  disk  program's 
purpose  is  to  encourage  the  creation  of 
NORTH  AMERICAN  SOURCES  in  support  of 
Sinclair  Computing.  The  program  is 
enjoying  moderate  success.  Two  years  ago 
Peter  Hale  (EMSOFT)  was  about  the  only 
recognized  source  of  American  Software  for 
the  QL.  Now  he  is  joined  by  others.  (See 
EMSOFT  Ad  in  this  issue) . 

While  the  Brits  are  jolly  good 
fellows,  and  they  have  given  us  (sold  us) 
many  good  softwares,  Update  Magazine  takes 
the  position  that  QL  users  in  North  America 
should  not  have  to  swim  the  pond  to  get 
useful  software.  Our  own  programmers  are 
available  for  call  to  service  the  users, 
and  are  eager  to  do  so. 

Didja  know  that  PSION,  the  producer 
(emeritus)  of  our  Four  great  QL  Softwares, 
is  now  an  American  Corporation?  AND,  Bill 
Cable  has  a  working  relationship  with  PSION 
to  do  follow-on  improvement  programming 
with  the  PSION  suite?  AND,  that  EMSOFT 
(Peter  Hale)  is  a  Dealer  for  the  new  PSION 
Mobil  computers?  AND,  I'm  squirreling  away 
saving  to  buy  one  of  the  new  PSION  Mobile 
computers?  I  dont  know  what  thats  got  to 
do  with  Issue  Disks,  but  it  is  all  relative 
to    the  subject  of  Hobby  computing.  ENJOY! 


/j     SINCLAIR  QL  ISSUE  DISKS  (HDV) 

The  following  new  issue  disks  are  offered  for  QL 
systems  of  all  configurations.  The  programs  are 
on  either  80  track  Diskette  or  MDV  cartridge. 
If  ordering  for  MDV  send  a  formatted  MDV 
cartridge.  All  prices  are  $22.00  (post  paid)  and 
are  guaranteed  to  satisfy. 


1.  "HARMS  COLLECTICH"  DISK 

Address  and  QSO  file  managers,  plus  a  raft 
of  disk  utilities.  All  in  Superbasic.  Lots  of 
tricks  and  hints  for  the  programmers .  Requires 
seme  knowledge  of  Superbasic  or  a  yen  to  learn. 


2,  "ENS  PTer"  DISK 

QLUTer  -  QL  UTilities  to  un-clutter  your 
disks  and  tapes.  COPY,  DELETE,  FORMAT,  PRINT, 
VIEW  functions.  TURBO  compiled  for  SPEED. 
Multi tasks  and  minimal  key  press.  Also  has— 
SteP  SHOT  -  a  directory  column  or  condensed 
print  out  program..  ALSO  includes  "VEGEMAT**  -  a 
CLONE  making  program. 


3.  "FIG  QLOSTer"  DISK 

QLUSTer  -  very  sindliar  to  QLUTer  (above) 
hut  has  extended  functions  using  some  SUPER 
TOOLKIT  II  features.  You  must  have  the  Toolkit 
(TK2J5XT)  for  this  program.  SNAP  SHOT  and 
VEGEmat  also  included. 


4.  OBLE  ARCHIVE  DISK 

ARCHIVE  utilities  and  exensive  doc  file 
instruction  manuals.  Programs  are:  REFIELD, 
SCAN,  SPLIT,  JOIN,  DIR,  FILER,  FREQ.  For 
Beginner  to  Advanced  user.  These  programs 
GREATLY  EXTEND  the  capabilities  of  ARCHIVE  and 
the  manuals  lead  one  to  complete  understanding 
of  Archive  and  these  extensions. 
U  ondvUng  4ot  MDV  **m&  into  miv  catfrUdge^-  too 
mxny  pwgtams  to       irvbo  one,  avtt. 


5.  "CABLE  HELPER2"  DISK 

A  very  useful  TOOLKIT  program  for  managing 
both  DISKS  and  MICRODRIVE.  HELPER  lets  you  copy 
from  one  medium  to  another,  Read  or  Copy  doc 
files  to  paper  or  screen,  repeat  format  mdv 
carts  or  floppy.  Uses  screen  windows  to  see  two 
directories  from  and  to,  copies  over  existing 
files  in  disk  mdv,  copy  selected  files.  Does 
not  conflict  with  TK2. 


48 


Order  to  UPDATE  Magazine,  address  on  cover. 
Check  or  money  order  accepted. 


M  TS-2068  ISSUE  DISK  PROM 

Available  until  July  31,  1990 

While  Frank  Davis  intends  to  continue  the 
Issue  Disk  program  it  is  likely  to  undergo 
change.  The  software  offered  in  these  disks 
belong  to  the  authors  and  new  agreements  will  be 
required.  Some  titles  may  not  be  available 
after  July. 

It  has  been  difficult  to  pursuade  and  cajole 
NEW  TS-2068  SOFTWARE  from  the  few  programmers 
who  are  still  active.  Most  seem  to  be  modifying 
older  cassette  software  for  disk  drive 
operation.  Thats  kinda  like  modifying  a 
row-boat  to  become    a  cruise  ship. 

But  this  issue  brings  an  excellent  new 
BUSINESS  Software,  by  Jim  Bretz.  My  own 
softwares,  Daisy,  Smart  Text,  and  Dbasel,  were 
thrown  into  the  Issue  disk  program  to  fill  a 
void  of  new  DISK  BASED  Software.  These  titles 
will  be  withdrawn  after  July  because  all  are 
constantly  undergoing  upgrades,  manual 
addendums,  and  require  personal  support  via 
letters  and  telephone. 

My  Fortune  800  Software  house,  "Gulf  Micro" 
will  continue  to  work  on  these  and  provide  new 
full-length  software  as  time  goes  on.  I  wish 
that  other  programmers  would  join  in  such 
efforts.  Larry  Kenny  and  John  McMichael  are 
doing  some  good  NEW  software.  AND,  the  Toronto 
TSUG  has  some  very  active  programmers  who  are 
producing  LKDOS  utilities.  We  need  to  entice 
others  to  join  in.  Software  designed  from  the 
ground  up  for  DISK  DRIVE  SYSTEMS  is  what  we 
need.  Old  Cassette  software  with  the  SAVE  line 
modified  wont  fit  our  needs,  and  if  thats  all 
the  users  have  available  they  will  move  on  to  a 
computer  system  that  has  the  software. 

A  lot  of  new  programming  is  going  into  the 
area  of  EXTRA  MEMORY  usage.  Larmour  Crawford  is 
predominant  in  this  area  and  I'm  trying  to 
assist.  Please  read  the  article  "The  QL  ISSUE 
DISK  PROGRAM".  Our  TS-2068  issue  disk  program 
has  not  had  as  much  success,  but  lets  keep  on 
trying .  -BJ_ 


The  Update  TS-2068  Disk  Library 


The  following  Disk  software  and  utilities  are 
offered.  The  Individual  disk  listings  are  given 
by  TYPE  of  DOS  that  the  disks  are  prepared  for. 

The  disks  are  available  on  5-1/4"  Double 
Side  Double  Density  Diskettes,  either  40  Track 
(360K)  or  80  Track  (720R)  disk  drives.  If  you 
have  a  S-jl/ 4  inch  disk  drive  these  disks  will 
work  in  your  system.  Each  disk  has  at  least  300K 
of  programs  and  utilities.  The  price  is  $22.00 
per  disk  (postage  paid)  (add  $1.00  to  Canada). 
Checks  or  Money  Order. 


06 ;  A  Caiplete  TS-2068  Software  Syston, 

Data  base  management.  Word  Processing, 
Automatic  formatting,  Disk  Management. 
Over  20  integrated  programs,  including  a 
Mail  Merge  annex.  For  LKDOS  Only.  (Oliger 
DOS  users  order  Smart  Text.)  An  Update 
Magazine  Software. 


rr  TEXT  :   A  versatile  Data  Base  and  Word 

Processor  software.  Includes  a  Mail  Merge 
annex  to  creata  mailing  lists  for 
automatic  repeat  letters.  Label  printing, 
Disk  Management.  By  Update  Magazine.  For 
Oliger  DOS  Only.  v 


1989  UPDATE  COLLECTION:  Filled  with  all  of  the 

utility  programs  published  during  1989. 
LKDOS  or  Oliger  DOS 


SMART  TEXT  64:  (Coming)  tot  Text  software  in 

64  Column  Screen  for  use  with  the  Zebra 
OS-64  Cartridge.  For  OLIGER  DOS  ONLY. 
(Do  not  order  until  release  is  announced) 


VIEW  CALC  UPGRADE  :    The  old  PSION  View  Calc 

program  Expanded  and  Converted  for  LKDOS 
with  Spread  Sheet  Printer.  By  Bob 
Mitchell.    For  LKDOS  Only. 


1988  UPDATE  OOLLECTION:  The  Mail  Merge  Software 

plus  the  disk  filled  with  utilities.  For 
LKDOS  or  Oliger  DOS 


DBASE-1  :  (Caning)  A  new  RECORD  software.  The 

data  base  will  be  very  flexible  with 
applications  for  Mall  Lists,  Inventories, 
or  just  about  any  purpose  one  needs.  Sort 
by  any  line,  and  by  first  or  last  group 
within  the  line.  A  "Sort  Disk  Files" 
feature  will  allow  one  to  create  and  sort 
thousands  of  continuous  records.  (Do  not 
order  until  release  is  announced.) 


1990  UPDATE  COLLECTION:  All  of  the  Utility 

programs  being  published  during  this 
current  year,    (to  be  released  in  Oct.) 


BUSINESS  ACCOUNTS:  New  Major  Business 

Software  for  the  TS-2068,  By:  Jim  Brets 

This  software  is  given  as  a  key-in 
project  and  can  be  ordered  for  imediate  use. 
See  the  article  in  this  issue.  Available 
for  LKDOS  OR  SPDOS.  5  1/4"  DSDD  80  TRACK 
720K  FORMAT.  Use  your  own  Printer  Driver 
Code  or  LKDOS  version  3  driver.  Needs  64 
Column  support  by  either  TASWI  or  Zebra 
OS-64  cartridge. 


NOTE  TO  PROGRAMMERS:  TOU  can  join  in  with  the 
Issue  Disk  Program.  Ail  you  need  to  do  is 
to  write  a  "Mini -Manual"  for  your  software 
to  be  published,  and  supply  the  disk. 


BACK  ISSUES  OF  UPDATE  MAGAZINE  ^ 
are  available  in  TEAR  Groups  for  $18.00 
per  year  (post  paid)  (add  $1.00  to  Canada) 
Each  year  group  has  over  200  pagea  of 
mostly  useful  programs  and  utilities  as 
key-in  projects  and  MANI  Tutorials  for 
Basic  and  MC  programming.    Available  are: 

1988  Year  Group  (All  TS-2068  Supportive) 

1989  Year  Group  (TS-2068  and  Sinclair  QL 


49 


LKDOS  SOFT-WARE 


IIHIIIIIHIIIIIIII 

"  m 


MAXCQM  300/1200  baud  Tarmlnal/BBS 

This  full  faatura  madam  softwara  lots  you  affactlvly  link  tha  modam  to  th*  disk,  so  you  can  upload  or 
download  fllas  largar  than  lOOK.Thls  lals  you  stud  HMI  savas  mid  larga  taxi  fllas  as  wall  *s  Basic  or  Cod* 
flits,  which  olhar  modam  programs  couldn't  sand  bacausa  of  mamory  limitations.  Also  fllas  can  ba  sant  with 
or  without  a  Information  haadar  (Spac-ttrm  compatlbla)  . 

It  also  has  a  64  column  display  and  Is  tha  only  2068  modam  program  that  will  run  at  full  1200  baud 
without  missing  characlars.  Othtr  faaturts  of  th«  tarmlnal  moda  ara  IDM  graphic  charactars.  auto-dlalar. 
macro  kays,  I10K  disk  buffer  for  capturad  taxt.  auto  rapoat  kays. 

Tha  BBS  Is  tha  most  alaborata  available  for  tha  2068  and  allows  tho  ramota  usar  full  acctss  to  th«  disk 
drlvas  similar  to  a  CPM  BBS.  Faaturas  of  tha  BBS  ara  -  300/1200  baud,  aparallen  with  fast  rapo.ic*  avan  at 
1200  baud.    Passwords,  priority  levels.  Usa  lima  limits.    Multlplo  Massaga  Basas,  Uploads  and  Downloads  ara 
not  Itmllad  by  Mamory.    Dual  Window  Monitor  scraan.    Intarupt  drlvan  thna  out  and  Hangup  protactlon.  Also 
Kaaps  a  Ustr  log  of  callars  Mamas  and  Activity  on  disk  so  a  printer  Isni  n«t4«4  and  Its  aaslly  customised  and 
expanded. 

MAXCOM  can  ba  usad  with  tha  2050  madam  or  with  tho  Z-SIO  RS232  Intarfaca  and  a  300/1200  baud 
modam.  (a  varslon  for  tha  Aarco    RS232  Is  In  tha  works). 
PRICEi  *24.95 


LARKEN  DISK  EDIIOn 

'  This  program  lots  you  axamina  or  changa  any  byta  on  a  LKdos  disk.  It  Is  usaful  In  rapalrlng  damagad  or 
glltchad  disks,  changing  tha  disk  Nama  or  haad  spaad  ate.  You  esn  also  examlna  tha  track  map  and  disk  Info 
haadars. 

Tha  documentation  for  tha  disk  adltor  also  Includas  Information  on  how  to  accass  LKdos  from  Machlna 
Coda  and  Information  on  tha  structura  of  tha  disk  catalog  and  data  blocks. 
PRICEi  $15.00 


SEQUENTIAL/RANOOM  Accass  FILES 

This  utility  Is  a  ram  rasldant  axtanslon  to  tha  LKdos  operating  systain  and  lats  you  craata.  raad  from,  or 
wrlla  to  vary  largo  data  fllas  kapt  on  disk.  It  usa*  tha  commands  OPEN*.  CLOSEH.  PniNTi.  IMPUTi.  and 
INKEYSH  to  accass  tha  fllas  from  BASIC.  Thara  Is  also  a  high  spaad  saarch  command  for  finding  a  taxt  siring 
within  lha  data  fllo.  Using  tha  TAB  command,  you  can  randomly  accass  dlractly  any  racord  In  a  flla. 

Tha  utility  Is  aaslly  usad  within  your  basic  programs  and  has  a  lot  of  usas.  from  storing  larga  data  fllas. 
craatlng  larga  spall  chackar  dlctlonarys  or  atan  convartlng  you  basic  programs  to  an  aacll  taxt  flla  . 

This  utility  lats  you  taka  tha  limits  off  of  tha  data  capacity  of  tho  2068  .Fllas  on  disk  can  ba  bug.  I 

A  tlmpla  data  basa  program  Is  Includad  on  tha  disk  to  damonstrata  tha  utility. 
PRICEi  $  15.00  . 

Coming  Soon  from  Larkan  Elactronlcs 

•  *  Tha  Larkan  Cask  Top  Publlshar         Produca  high  quality  printing  (Ilka  thla  paga  }  with  an  apaon  compatlbla 
prlntar  and  LKdot.  Tha  antlra  Hl-ras  graphic  paga  Is  kapt  on  tha  disk  and  scrolling  though  tha  paga  Is  aa  aaay 
as  clicking  lha  Joystick  or  mousa  on  tha  Icon  typa  manu.  Taxt  and  Graphic  adltlng  with  multlpla  sized  fonts 
will  also  ba  faaturad. 

a*  Spall  Chackar  for  Tasword  and  M-Scrlpt         Thla  utility  program  will  lot  you  hava  your  wardproeaasor 
taxt  fllas  ba  chackad  by  a  350K  dictionary. 

All  Prlcas  SUS    -  Sptclfy  typa  of  drlva  whan  ordarlng. 
LARKEN  ELECTRONICS    RR|2  MA  VAN.  ONTARIO  CANADA.  K4B-1H9 
(613^835-2680 


50 


UPDATE  MiVGAZIME